


Magnum Liberalis

by Egnirys_Cimredopyh, ZZEx



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Drow, Dungeons & Dragons References, Elves, Fantasy, Gen, Illithids, Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, Magic, Mystery, Original Character(s), Psionics, Steampunk, Tieflings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25610923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Egnirys_Cimredopyh/pseuds/Egnirys_Cimredopyh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZZEx/pseuds/ZZEx
Summary: It began with a espionage quest.It turned into a struggle to save lives and fight off an invasion.
Kudos: 4





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> This text is in rp format as it is a roleplay I am still doing with a friend in Amino. Belial, a storm sorcerer tiefling, is @egniryocs's character. While Dyon, a Thoc'Rah(homebrewed mind flayer-like race concept by @dm-clockwork-dragon on tumblr,) who is a psion battlemind/fighter battlemaster is my main character. Both characters are lvl 10 at the beginning, but will level up during the story in rp format - up to lvl 15 most likely.
> 
> We use a simplified version of dice checks for actions and combat, so we have to roll before finishing some of our answers to the rp which makes it all very interesting. We will also use d&d 5e rules for the leveling up. Also the setting is one where there is an ongoing magical and industrial revolution, therefore the setting is fantasy/steampunk.
> 
> The fact that these are literal transcriptions of our rp with minimal additions - just enough to fix grammatical mistakes - means that the third point of view and narrator changes every few paragraphs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are links to the characters amino wiki's.
> 
> Belial Vialdre: http://aminoapps.com/p/2db4ni
> 
> Dyon Vultchun: http://aminoapps.com/p/377wel

The winds of the sea rippled through the seaside town at all hours, leaving it with the scent of salt heavy in the air. Veritas was a small town, itself nestled on the coastline of the Betelgeuisan Sea. The coast stretched for miles, ending at the city of Praescamaria. A bountiful sea, blessed by the past between the creatures of the ocean and the creatures of the land. Such a thing made the seaside town unique in its population: many being aquatic species, devoting their life to that of the amphibious. 

Of those who made somewhat of a home in Veritas, Belial was not a seafaring humanoid. He was a tiefling, one meant for land, not water. His home in the town was not a permanent one; simply a home in which he stayed when he wasn't questing. He had come to rest in the town not terribly long ago - some three years ago. It was the home of his guild, The Marble Oath, thus his location now was a convenient one.

A guild in which Belial was inside of at this very moment, listening to the winds of the sea as he waited for the genasi woman known as Agüita. The inside of the building was a simple one: a large room with a desk set towards the back wall, with cork boards filled to the brim with quests pinned to them. Of these quests, Belial's was not one of them. His was a special one - Or a special two, rather. To uncover two mysteries, at the price of one.

He wondered if he could negotiate with Esca to receive pay for his more clandestine operation.

He stood against the wooden desk, leaning his weight onto it ever so gently. He wasn't privy to standing for long amounts of time, lest he get tired. After all, Belial was old - compared to other spring chickens that had joined The Marble Oath in years past.  
Sporting someone coming down the stairs from the second level of the building, the tiefling spoke.  
"Have you seen Agüita? Is she in, right now?"

\---

Who was coming down the stairs was one of the newest adventurers, a young man, half human, whose name is not that known yet, he was going out after having attempted to talk with Agüita himself, probably about their first or second quest's pay. The young adventurer turned to look at the tiefling when talked to, and to the questions of the tiefling he grinned and let out a huffed laugh.

"She's upstairs. Talking with the masked weird one, I couldn't even claim my reward, she's trying to convince them of something but they are giving her the silent treatment. She shouldn't take much longer, but I doubt she'll be in the mood to talk with you after that disaster of a conversation that she's having with that weirdo -ow!"  
The young man couldn't finish talking as he was shoved to the side of the staircase by said 'masked weirdo', who, albeit being masked, seemed to give off an aura of anger and resentment. The young man spoke up again, now to spit the words. "What's wrong with you!?" At the masked adventurer.

This made the two meters tall adventurer stop dead on their tracks and turn to glare at the young man, and their answer was enough to make the younger adventurer shut their mouth for good. With a dull, for the mask, but raspy and gruff voice they said: "You were blocking the staircase. If you have a problem with me you better think how you are going to express it." With that said they turned and went outside of the guild.

As that happened Agüita had descended the stairs, she patted the younger adventurer's shoulder gently and passed by his side, murmuring something about how it would be better if he didn't talk about other adventurers behind their backs, apparently, both, the masked one and the water genasi had heard the young man's comments about the first one. After the small ordeal the young man was handed his reward and he left, while Agüita went to sit behind the wooden desk, letting a sigh as she did so, then she directed her attention towards the tiefling.

"Good morning, Belial. I'm sure my father has already told you some of the details of this quest, could you tell me how much you know so I can finish giving you all the details?"

The young water genasi said, giving him a tired smile, she seems to be indeed pretty bummed after her talk with the masked adventurer, but she has always been very positive.

\---

Through slit pupiled eyes did Belial examine the half-human adventurer. He recognized him as a new face, yet his name evaded him. The irritation on him was palpable, but Belial had to say: talking trash wouldn't help his situation.

"The weirdo? Oh, that's rude of you."  
He mumbled to himself, watching the youngling be shoved out of the way. It was karmic retribution, one could say. It was clearer still that the masked one was very, very angry - to put it in simpler terms.  
What could have angered them so severely?  
If memory served, the masked one was the loner he had been spoken to about. Perhaps Agüita had informed him of the quest, but - Belial couldn't be so sure. He was simply glad he was yet to be in the line of fire. He likely wouldn't be for a while as well, he assumed as he watched them skulk out of the building, full to the brim with rage.

His attention was turned now to the young water genasi, a much more welcome sight than two adventurers duking it out in public. He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he had yet to be involved. Oh, how he was not looking forward to handling the quest from now on. He had known some things about the masked one, but anger was not one of them.

"Yes, yes. Of course."  
A pause, as Belial had to recall the information that had been told to him.  
"I hear there's been stormy waters in Peaescamaria." He replied in a calm voice, his eyes on her.

He had known it would have been difficult - handling something like espionage. Belial was a simple man; his adventurers took place mainly in the countryside. Far away from the cogs and gears of the great cities, he hunted monsters and criminals. And now, he would hunt monsters and criminals in those great cities, though in a far more secretive manner.

He leaned in, his voice a whisper.  
"You didn't piss them off too much, did you?"

\---

Agüita sorted out some papers that were scattered over the wood desk as she listened to the tiefling, nodding when he talked about Praescamaria. The female water genasi let out a tired sigh at the question, but answered nonetheless, whispering back.  
"No, trust me, they aren't pissed off, just a bit upset and about to throw a little tantrum somewhere out of the town, probably. But don't worry, usually they aren't that easy to upset, they are known for being calm and distant, not rageful. And it's mainly my father's fault, he threatened to kick them out of the guild."

She leaned back in the chair she sat at behind the desk, after sorting through the papers on the desk the young water genasi handed Belial two envelopes.  
"Inside of these are two different lists of names of people that have to be investigated. Make sure to show them to your new companion and to discuss with them how to proceed once both of you are at Praescamaria, try to not attract unwanted attention. Now, onto the second matter."

Agüita leaned back over some to whisper what she knew about the masked adventurer, half of it were conjectures and theories, rumors that other adventurers started but that could be useful.

"Their name is Dyon Vultchun. No one has seen them with the mask off, and more than a mask it's some sort of helmet that covers all their face. As you know, they have no arms and use prosthetics, they are also proficient in psionics - that's how they keep the prosthetics working. Personally I believe that they are probably a heavily scarred drow, Dyon is tall enough to be a drow and you just have to look at them to see that it could be a very plausible possibility. Other people say that they could be some sort of sentient construct, but they eat, or at least they shop for food regularly even if no one has seen them eating. There are many other rumors, nastier ones, that accuse them of being a war criminal or even an outcast illithid, but, their behaviour does not match with those."

\---

Belial was, simply to say, relieved to know that this Dyon was nothing more than throwing a tantrum. If they were the distant type, then it made Belial's job easier - marginally.  
Nodding along, he took the two envelopes, hiding them away underneath the dark green cloak he wore. Only would they be revealed again when he was meant to hand them to Dyon, just as requested.

The information he was given was curious - that of the story of a masked person. The story of Dyon Vultchun, she told him. That of a heavily scarred Drow, he hoped. The farthest option he would have preferred was, to be that of an Illithid. Belial feared the Illithid race; they haunted his nightmares and waking moments alike. The thoughts that raced in his mind made it hard to hide away his verbal tic - but he managed to keep his counting tic in the back of his mind. 

"That is... fascinating."  
He said, through the feeling of anxiety. It wasn't palpable, per se, the only hint being in the ever so slight strain of his voice. It was fascinating, however, he did not lie. To wear a mask, to hide away one's identity for fear of... something.  
What did Dyon fear?  
Their own identity, or something greater?

Standing straight, removing his lean off the desk, the tiefling nodded once more in understanding. He knew what he had to do - but first he would have to find Dyon.  
"Thank you, Miss Agüita." He said, bowing his head once more before he began to leave. "Do not worry, we'll have this handled in no time. Well... relatively."  
And with that, he was out the door.

Belial wasn't sure where to start, as he gazed around. Few people milled around, going about their daily business. Some turned their heads towards a particular direction before returning to their discussion, likely gossiping about who they were looking towards. Yet, when Belial looked for himself, it was but another villager. Unable to find the stranger, Belial was left with one option: to talk with the townsfolk.

The first he approached was an older woman, a sea elf holding a basket of fish.  
"Excuse me, ma'am!" He called out as he approached, drawing her attention. "Have you seen a tall person, wearing a mask? About... this tall?"  
The sea elf woman paused, before pointing in the direction of the docks. "I think he went there."  
Another pause.  
"Or maybe it was towards the forest... I'm not sure."

\---

Meanwhile, at the local near forest, Dyon had walked for about ten minutes, going far away enough to let go of some pent up rage, they were known for being calm, but that didn't mean they didn't feel angriness, far from that, what he did was hoard it and push it down inside their mind, trying to ignore it, but sometimes this practice did more harm than good. They always tried to let their hoarded anger go in areas away from others, today they didn't go that far.

The masked adventurer changed their arm prosthetics for their sword prosthetics, those they carry in a bag of holding that they acquired once as payment for a quest, they let their normal hand prosthetics inside the bag. Once they equipped their sword prosthetics the masked adventurer turned around to look at one of the trees that were marked as trees that can and must be cut down.

Dyon figured that they could let their rage go with it and chop it down, they got in fighting position, drew a sword up and to the side, then he struck the tree. But. Sadly. Their sword prosthetic got stuck on the tree, and they weren't capable of getting it out now.

\---

To get information from the sea elf was like pulling teeth. She was a confused woman, and it gave Belial a headache. In the end, he had to sneak away from her rambling on and disappear into the closest group of people.  
"Hey! Where are you going?!" But, before she could catch him, he was gone. 

Belial had made his choice, as he untangled himself from the tiny crowd that had gathered around to watch a bard perform. He was going to the forest - nice and quiet, a usually empty, safe area. Due to the proximity to an active guild, monsters so close to town were an unlikely force. However, as he entered the threshold of a forest path, he could hear the telltale sign of struggling.

Was someone hurt?  
He was on high alarm, approaching the source of the source of the sound. That was, until he finally reached the location. Dyon was stuck. 

It was hard not to laugh, seeing him struggle to break free from the thick bark of an oak tree. However it would have been stupid of Belial to sit there and laugh at him, as much as he was tempted to.

"Need some - some help?" He asked, doing his best to hide the forming grin on his face. After all, the last thing Belial wanted was to embarrass Dyon anymore than they already were. With that in mind, the tiefling began to approach.  
"You're Dyon Vultchun, right? From the guild?" While Belial certainly recognized him, it was good to be sure.

\---

They stopped struggling when they heard Belial's voice, they had changed their not stuck sword prosthetic for their normal hand one and had been tugging on the stuck prosthetic. Dyon let go of the prosthetic and also stopped using their psionics that kept the stuck blade united to their actual arm so now they could move to face the tiefling.

"What I want as of right now is for death to take me." They were joking, apparently in a less bad mood than before, maybe they realized the absurdity of the situation. "And yes, I am Dyon. Let me guess, you're my babysitter, whom the guild is forcing me to go with."

They rummaged through their bag of holding and took out their other normal hand prosthetic, equipping it. Now with two free hands they attempted to pull off the stuck blade again, but to no avail, they only managed to move it some, after that Dyon turned to look at Belial, then after a solid minute of silence they spoke up again. 

"... Could you help me?"


	2. II

Dyon was quite lucky they could switch out their arms, lest they would have been stuck there for quite some time. As Belial had noted before, the tree seemed quite thick, with the sword having cut just enough to wedge itself into its wood nice and snug. It was going to be a struggle to wrench it free, but a struggle Belial was willing to try.

"Hey, it's too early in the day to be saying things like that," Belial answered in a teasing tone of voice as he approached the unfamiliar form known as Dyon. "You guessed it - I'm your babysitter." He answered again, half focused on staring at the arm lodged in the tree, and the masked one tugging on it. Waiting for them to step out of the way, Belial came closer to the scene.

"Now, I'm not that strong, but I can certainly try," he noted as he gripped the part that stuck out. His grip was firm, but he was not confident it would stay strong. He had never been ones for feats of athleticism.   
He was a sorcerer, damn it, not a fighter!   
Yet, to his surprise, when he tugged on it it began to loosen itself from its hold. There was a pause in the struggle as he admired his handiwork, a look of genuine surprise written all over his face. He looked back to Dyon as if to say, "did you see that?" before continuing to tug and tug until the armament slid free. 

Once it was freed from its temporary prison, he handed it off to its rightful owner.  
"Does this happen.. often?" He asked, an expression on his face that indicated he might have been wondering such a thing since the beginning of the scene. Reaching into his cloak, he produced the two letters given to him by Miss Agüita. "Anyways, forget that. I think these are much more important."

\---

The masked adventurer was staring down at the piece of armament after the sorcerer helped them get it unstuck, Dyon seemed to give off an aura of self shame as they equipped that same sword prosthetic again, changing it for one of their arm ones.

"Well .... No, that doesn't happen usually. I'm supposed to be a fighter. Just. Not a too strong one as of now. But I'm fast, really fast ... Those can wait, we aren't leaving until tomorrow. Now, please, step aside, because I now have a personal grudge with this tree." If it wasn't clear, they were going to attempt cutting the tree down again.

This time, their psionic energy covered the entirety of the blade, for a bonus in powers, they were using the ability psystrike, one that will strain them some later on, as they suffered from a penalty due to how much time they had spent without using psionics actively. They moved the blade up and to the left, this time, the strike cut half and a bit more of the tree's thick trunk and the blade didn't get stuck, then Dyon moved away quickly as the tree cracked and began to slowly fall towards the left.

"Well. My ego is still kinda wounded, but I'm not upset anymore ... Anyways, what's with those letters?" The masked adventurer stared at Belial, or at the letters, who knows? The person is wearing one big mask and it's hard to know what they are really looking at, still, they seemed to be pretty expressive in a way, maybe it was because of their psionics, maybe they were that expressive as a way to make up for not wanting to take their mask off.

\---

Belial stepped out of the way once the handoff was made, giving Dyon ample space to work. He put the letters back into the hidden pockets of the cloak as he watched them prepare to take their revenge out on the tree.

With a cacophony of forest sounds, the tree landed with a heavy "thunk." Such a thing could have easily crushed them, judging by its size. Belial hoped that Dyon took that into consideration when they aimed their weapon. The feat of cutting down a tree was certainly impressive, though.   
"You really showed that tree," Belial said, yet again in a teasing manner. His teasing was just that - in jest. 

Ah, the letters.  
"They're two lists of potential suspects we have to investigate." He informed him, hiding no information that he did not already know himself. He had no reason to; Dyon was his colleague for the time being. Hiding things from him would have been, to put it in simple terms, just plain stupid.   
"If you were wondering, no. I haven't looked at them yet. I figured it was imperative we view them together."

Belial's arms were crossed over his chest, more of a gesture of leisure than a gesture of stubbornness. He was surprisingly relaxed, now having got to know Dyon just a bit more. They weren't a raging lunatic, but - as of right now - Someone who came off as embarrassed they had been caught in failure. It was a far more relatable act than the former, he had to admit.

"Since we're leaving tomorrow, do you mind me asking where you're staying?" He asked, with a tilt of the head. The more he gazed at the masked person, the more he thought their mask felt.. expressive, to an extent. A curious thing.

\---

"I sure did. But should have not done so. I wasted psionic energy on imbuing my sword for extra damage and now I kinda need to sit down before my-" They couldn't finish talking as their prosthetic arms and the blade fell to the floor, clanking noisily, as the energy that kept those united to the masked adventurer's handicapped arms faded away. "Never mind. There they go. Good news, I don't have to sit down, bad news, I can't use my psionics for a little while, probably a minute or two. It'll be alright."

When questioned about where they stay at, Dyon snapped their head up and stared at the tiefling for a moment, head tilting from one side to the other side once, dull golden mask reflecting the sun a bit, they seemed to be thinking about Belial's question. "I have a camp on the beach, I don't sleep inside the town. No, you may not know why. Should we look at the lists of potential suspects now or once we are at Praescamaria? To be honest, I don't mind when we do, we're doing the job either way. If we do now maybe we could recognise some names, because I'm sure noblemen and famous merchants will be involved. Those greedy people are the easiest to corrupt."

The masked adventurer doesn't seem to fancy people who have more than what they need, it could be easily noticed in their tone of voice, even if the mask made their voice dull some, Dyon also seemed eager to stop talking about themselves and to get back onto the task at hand which is discussing their quest.

\---

Before Belial could act to help them, the prosthetics clattered to the floor.  
"Oh, that's unfortunate." He mumbled, instead now reaching down to gather the pieces to assist Dyon. The metal was surprisingly heavy, though Belial shouldn't have been surprised. Just because they could lift it with their psionics didn't mean it wasn't weighty. 

Belial blanched - or as blanche as a mauve-skinned fellow could become - at the stare they were giving him.   
Had he overstepped their boundaries?  
No, it seemed he hadn't, as they began to speak again.   
"Reasonable enough. Why not check them out now?" Saying such a thing, Belial produced the two letters yet again. He couldn't agree more on Dyon's opinion of those of the bourgeois. More often than not Belial found them to be corrupt, sick people that used their power for sick, corrupt things. Both in his time below ground and above, he had only met one of the nobility he had like. However, that man - by the name of Ander - had lost their standing and accumulated money in a fire.  
Briefly, he wondered what the man that smelled of antiseptic and embalming fluids was doing now.

He glanced around for a place to sit, before deciding on the log that had just been felled. Sitting upon it, he waited for Dyon to join him before opening the first letter.  
"At the very least, I believe we both can enjoy knocking these people down a peg." A thing he revelled in - giving those of high positions their just desserts. The higher ups had harmed him before, thus he felt it necessary to take his revenge on those who held similar positions. It was almost neurotic, the tone he spoke of it in.

"Ahem. Sorry. Anyways, names, names...."

A name upon the list stood out to him, yet the only tell was the expression on his face. The name was of a Malva Kilt'tar - a Drowish name.

\---

Dyon didn't seem to mind that their prosthetics were on the floor. "You know you could have left those on the floor and I would have easily gotten them equipped again once my psionics stopped acting weird. I have been without using them for a long time and I am kinda suffering the side effects, but it's nothing that training can't solve."

The masked adventurer sat on the log too almost as soon as the tiefling held the first letter up, Dyon didn't get closer to look at the letters, instead waited for the other to show them the lists of names or to pass them the letter.

"It's fine ... So, what names are there in that letter?" They asked, turning to look back at their prosthetics after they felt their psionics spiking up and working correctly again, soon their mental energy reached out and took the pieces of their arm prosthetics up, equipping them on their respective places, while Dyon did that they also put the blades inside their bag of holding, not needing of the weapons anymore. "Anything interesting?" The masked adventurer then looked at Belial.

\---

Even if the limbs would have reattached themselves, Belial felt as if he couldn't simply leave them upon the forest floor. It was irrational, but what could happen if he just left them there? The thoughts in his head of what could have happened were there in tenfold, but he dared not speak them into existence.

Upon the first list were six names, listed alongside reasoning for their suspicions and minor information about them. The first that had stood out to him was that of the Drowish name, thus it was the first he had read aloud.  
"First, we have a Malva Kilt'tar. A trader from the Underdark, it seems she deals in rare gems, and possibly slave work." Belial would not have been surprised if there were more cultish intentions coming from the drow, but he did not voice his own suspicions. They were only personal - and personal matters were of no importance.

"And here we have a Sprague Kurnaz and a Paris Astatré." Belial hummed to himself as he read what was written. "It seems that they're both nobles, while also business partners." While the surnames were different, he wouldn't have been surprised if Paris was a bastard of some elven nobility. "It says that they may be housing some of the organization in properties they own."

The last two names were much more vague, with one or two words alongside their names. "Rieke Silvercrest is a guardswoman, it seems. She may also be a part of the organization." He cleared his voice. "And the final on this is a Iankas Maissec. It says they're a sailor."

Finishing the letter, he carefully folded it up and slid it back into the envelope. Putting it back into the cloak, he handed the secondary letter to Dyon.  
"Mind doing me the honors?"

\---

Dyon stayed silent while the tiefling spoke, seeming to be memorizing the information. As soon as the second letter was offered to them they took it and proceeded to open it, reading it over carefully before speaking up.

"First we got double trouble, half elf twin nobles, Shellis and Baileyya Ohmshamilton, apparently they are just younglings playing adult and getting involved with dangerous companies, they'll be a brother and not that worth investigating." They made a short pause. "Then we got the archetypical greedy merchant, Joshua Castillo, he came from land overseas to stay in search of riches. There's also the Widow of Reid, you know, that noblewoman who was accused of having killed her first and second husband but there wasn't enough proof so she got out of it with the double of influence and material power, her name is Hannah."

The masked adventurer seemed to do a double take and read the letter again. "There's also someone who I have already met before: Ratte Thomasette. She's a gnome merchant who hears and knows about almost everything that goes on in the city - the only downside is that she is very cryptic, depending on how important the information requested is, and she doesn't give the clues for free, not at all. This says she isn't involved in the organization but that she may know some about it, I think she's worth talking to as soon as we can." Regardless of what they said, Dyon seemed unhappy about having to talk with the mentioned gnome.

"And the last one is a half merfolk, Clardazz Collinwave, bastard son of a nobleman and a pirate trying to disguise for a merchant, it says he may know more about the city's catacombs and possible ways that this organization could be using to move around the city undetected."

\---

With much information to memorize, Belial was glad it had been written down for them. He would have to thank Miss Agüita when they returned. As it seemed, the most interesting of their subjects would be the gnome known as Ratte. Though, he had to admit, Dyon did not look too happy about that interaction.

An audible pause, as Belial glanced at the letter. Below the final name listed, he noticed the true final name. The name of Enkess, a name in Undercommon that meant "one of greatness." He recognized the name as one given to many noble Drow children, in hopes of altering their destiny into one of greatness. The name, Enkess, was also one of familiarity - it was the name of the Matriarch of his hamlet, deep in the Underdark. Enkess Zolyrr.

Belial visibly frowned at the idea.  
"Enkess." He read, leaning forward ever so slightly to read. "It says that there isn't much information about them, just that their name has been mentioned by... many of the people on the list."  
How suspicious. If anything, this name linked all eleven together. Such a curious thing, it was. It seemed that this Enkess was an important figure, but why?

"That... should be all the names, then." He muttered, now lost in thought. This was going to be a... very interesting journey, both the espionage and uncovering Dyon's identity.

\---

Once they had handed Belial the letter the masked adventurer had remained silent, but once they heard that last name they shuddered in place as if they just had a bad feeling about it. "That name gives off a psionic imprint that screams danger .... Guess that'll be the main target then, we will have to get information on them and if possible capture them, beat them up some, maybe. It would be the ideal thing, and being very optimistic it is something that can be done. But. Who knows what'll happen once we are there."

The masked adventurer got up from the log, stretching and giving a few steps around, they seemed to be someone who was usually calm although at the same time someone that couldn't stop moving around or being not doing something for too long, they did so very silently, that was why they come off as calm, because they are quiet. Although they also seemed to want to talk a lot more than what they did, it was as if Dyon gave off the vibe of always having been a social creature, one that suddenly had been forced to be careful and restraint themselves from socializing too much, from talking too much.

"So. What now? I have to go buy some provisions for the trip to the city, although I have heard we are going to get a ride in one of those new steam powered vehicles and shouldn't take us more than half a day." An hesitant pause, followed by more words. "I'm also going to dismantle my camp and take all I need from it with me. I could use some help with it. Do you need help with anything yourself?”


	3. III

The idea that even Dyon had gotten a negative feeling from such a name sent shivers down his spine. He nodded in agreement, adding "let's just hope they don't know we're coming." It was an ominous statement, but it held its own truth. If this Enkess knew they were coming, they would be in…  
A lot of trouble, to put it simply. They would have to do their best to keep themselves hidden, lest they face the consequences.

Putting the letter away in a similar spot as the first, Belial noted the way Dyon paced quietly. Was this something they did often, or was it a habit of nerves? Only time could give the true answer.  
"A steam powered vehicle?" Belial repeated, a blank moment's stare on his face. The thought was exciting; He had never ridden such a thing before.  
"That's... very interesting! Is the guild paying for it, or... Ah, forget it. I'll help you take your tent down after we get those provisions."

With thoughts of steam powered technology on his mind, Belial rose from his seat and began to walk back towards the town. With a short pause, he glanced back towards them to check if they were following.  
"It hasn't crossed my mind until now, but.. My name is Belial. Belial Vialdre." He said in an apologetic tone, having forgotten to introduce himself until just then. It was embarrassing, having forgotten such a simple thing. However, it seemed even Dyon had forgotten. To be named after a high ranked devil was quite heavy handed, but it wasn't exactly his fault. Belial was his name, and he didn't mind it - the scorn it brought was no different from that earned from being a tiefling already.

As he continued to walk down the path that led to town, he continued to speak. "Have you ever been to Praescamaria?' He asked, not looking back at the other. His white gaze was focused straight ahead, as buildings soon came into view. "I have to admit, I've never been. I tend to prefer staying away from those kinds of places."

\---

"As far as I know, the owner of the vehicle is an ex-adventurer of this guild and friend of the leader, and we are going to be rode to the city for free, as a favour that the owner of the vehicle owned Esca." Was their answer to the question that Belial didn't finish making as they followed the tiefling back into the town. "Ah, it's fine, it's nice to meet you. If I have to be honest, you're the first tiefling I talk with directly and you seem like a good person, at least you haven't been acting like any other companions I have been forced to work with before. Most of them were too rude and intrusive, I even broke one's nose once, the dumbass tried to take my mask off by force."

Even when walking the masked adventurer didn't seem capable of keeping a pace similar to that of the tiefling, apparently he liked to walk faster, so they just kinda zigzagged a bit as they tried to slow themselves down, their gaze was mainly directed at the ground or ahead of them, or so it seemed like, as the mask kept their features concealed perfectly.

"I have been to Praescamaria twice, one for a less risky quest and another time for personal reasons. That's how I met Ratte, she was pretty helpful both times, albeit rudely intrusive about my reasons. But I know she will be of a lot of help this time too, she dislikes crime organizations as much as we do."

Once again Dyon seemed to try to evade talking about themselves much, albeit it is clear in their tone of voice and body language that they want to talk a lot more about themselves, still they don't, probably thinking it'll be dangerous for them.

\---

"Ah, that explains a lot."  
Belial, to say the least, was incredibly glad to not have to fork over any money to ride on some frivolous machine. He would have much rather travelled by carriage, as he was used to. But, if Esca wanted them to arrive sooner, then so be it.

Belial was much slower than Dyon, he had begun to notice. As in shape as he was for his age, he could only go so fast. He let out a hefty laugh. "I'm not stupid enough to try that." He said, quite amused at the thought. Belial was far from the brightest tool in the shed, but he certainly had no interest in stripping away the mask of another. He felt it a violation of privacy. If they had something to hide, then they could keep hiding it!  
That was, unless he had a job to find out their identity.

Such as, say, right now.

But there were much subtler ways to handle that mission.

If Dyon wanted to hide themselves, for now Belial wouldn't try to coax more out of them. After all, their mission had only just started. It took time to earn trust, time he had not earned. As they strode into town, Belial's step increased marginally as he hurried to the market. He aimed to get there and out before the market closed, as the end of the business day was beginning to near for most of the shops.

"I will say, I'm very interested in exploring the catacombs," he said as they reached the small town market, his eyes grazing across the businesses and the people. In the town centre up ahead, the brunet bard was still playing their lute, with a small crowd around them. "You see, I find those environments.. soothing, in a sense. They remind me of home, as I grew up in the Underdark."

\---

As Belial hurried up, the masked one let themselves walk at the fast pace they wanted to, easily catching up to the tiefling. It was probable that Dyon was or younger than him or from a species that had a longer longevity and different way of aging, which would explain their higher energy when walking and their overall incapacity to stay still in one place without doing something, or maybe it was just something psions did.

"Oh? I grew up in the Underdark too, well, half of my childhood was there, my older brother took us, me and my younger sister, there because he worked with some Underdark people, he mainly took care of any undeads that attacked the area, my brother was a knight so taking on some undeads was easy for him. I too prefer dark places, the surface is too bright and too hot and I get sunburnt easily, that's why I wear full clothing, but the full clothing is too warm too and everything I wear is uncomfortable." The psion fighter was careful when talking about themselves and anyone of their past, but they also complained openly about whatever they found inconvenient.

As they walked into the market and through it Dyon changed the topic of their conversation. "What do you need to buy? I have to buy food, mainly dried seafood and potable water."

\---

Knowing that Dyon, too, hailed from the Underdark brought Belial a sense of comfort. It had been a long time since his days in the underground - he dearly missed it, but knew he could never go back.  
"Right? I'm lucky I don't burn like a Drow does." While having some part Drow in his DNA, it was miniscule enough that Belial's complexion was safe from the harm of the surface's burning sun. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to be Dyon - stuck in uncomfortable wear to avoid even further discomfort. Perhaps he was a heavily scarred Drow after all - it made sense, at the moment.

"Spell components, besides the same as you" Belial answered as he glanced around for the general store. A small building with a firbolg working the front - A rarity in the land of the seafolk. The name was simple: Ellis's Goods and Wares. Ellis was the name of the firbolg, a young man with dark grey fur and even darker grey hair. Belial's plan was to purchase the general items first, then to get spell components.

The entrance of the building was a beige color, with a darker beige door. Belial opened the door to allow himself in, greeted by the firbolg.  
"Hello, and welcome to Ellis's Goods and Wares! How can I help you today?"

\---

The comment about drow elves didn't seem to make the masked adventurer react in any way, and when the tiefling answered to their question Dyon just hummed back as a way to mean that they had heard them, it seems like now their quiet demeanor had returned, maybe they were just thinking silently about what they wanted to buy for himself.

The more the masked adventurer talked the more it seemed like they haven't had a proper conversation with someone in a while, as they talked too much or too little and were weirdly eager but also hesitant and careful when speaking.

As Belial stepped first into the shop, Dyon stayed a moment outside, looking back at the other stores, thinking if they had to buy anything from them, but they decided that the general store could probably have those things too. Finally they went into the store, closing the door behind them, what they first did was look over the place from where they stood, waiting until Belial finished shopping first.

\---

Dyon's return to near silence didn't seem to bother Belial, though he certainly looked as if he could do with a bit more conversation. Belial was far from as wordy as them, but it did come off that he enjoyed the conversation.

"Hello, Ellis. Nice to see you today," Belial said, his tone half focused elsewhere. He walked further inside, separating from Dyon to gather his half of the supplies - rations, an adventurer's pack, and a sterling silver flask. While Belial had these items, minus the rations, he felt it necessary to have fresh replacements as they were going to the city. He didn't want to look any more drab than he already did. Once exchanged for gold, he turned his attention back to the masked person. "I'm going to the wizard's shop while you get your supplies. See you there?"

Coincidentally, this "wizard's shop" known as The Arcane Raven, was directly beside Ellis's Goods and Wares. It was run by a merman, who sat up front - half submerged in a clawfoot tub. They had once been a member of The Marble Oath, as expected they were a wizard. As Belial entered the building he was hit with the strong odor of burning incense. It wafted through the shop, the hint of rose incense a pleasant but strong smell. Such a thing was constant, as the merman enjoyed the smell.

There was a pause in Belial's step as he began to peruse the aisles, looking for components he required.   
Was Dyon a spellcaster? He should have asked if he had needed anything. Ah, well. It was too late now.

\---

As Belial did their own things Dyon too selected the items they wanted to buy, mostly food and water rations, not really having need for any other object, or so they thought, it seems that the masked one is very careful with most of the things they do, mainly when acting in front of other people, this includes buying items.

When asked about meeting again at the wizard's shop Dyon answered with a quiet. "I'll wait for you outside." Not into the idea of going inside a building from where they didn't need anything.

As soon as Belial left with his bought items Dyon went to pay for theirs, having actually found all they needed to buy, and without exchanging a word with the owner of the shop they purchased the items silently, giving Ellis two extra gold pieces, because the masked adventurer may not want to talk at the moment, but that doesn't mean they don't appreciate the work of people like the firbolg shop owner.

Stepping outside of the store with their purchased items already safely stored in their bag of holding, the masked one walked until he was under the shade of the wizard's shop building, because even if they didn't complain all the while nor showed it, the way too warm climate had him suffering constantly, but it was manageable, it has been for the past few years, still they won't lose an opportunity of staying in the shade. One of their main reasons to have a camp in the beach(in an area between cliffs, were there was plenty of shade), was that they could shower safely, as their camp was in a far remote area of the beach, that was just close enough of the town for them to travel safely from one to the other each early mornings and late evening.

\---

If it weren't for Belial's fascination with material components, he would have obtained an arcane focus long ago. It was the cheaper option, as well as the more convenient one. However, nothing could beat the feeling of turning an item of insignificance into one of utmost power. The rush of turning bits of fur and glass into a powerful bolt of lightning couldn't be beat. 

Disregarding what Belial thought about material components, once his purchases were made he was out of the door many a gold short. Unlike Dyon, and most other sorcerers of his level, Belial's approach to carrying items was a bit strange. He had no bags of holding, only the components pouch around his waist and the satchel he had purchased just minutes before. It was surely inconvenient, but he was quite the particular - and peculiar - person.

Finding Dyon hiding in the shade, Belial didn't waste any time in joining back with his colleague.   
"Didn't need anything?"  
He asked, though he already knew the answer. It certainly never hurt to have a brief spurt of dialogue. He looked at the impartial expression of the mask, before looking away - as if he was awaiting their answer.   
"Anyways, back on track. Where is your encampment?"

They had said they had camped at the beach, but that was a vague statement as any. The whole of Veritas's shoreline was a beach, giving Dyon precious many options in terms of places to hide away. And, of course, Belial was no psychic - he couldn't guess on his own where they were to head.

\---

"No. I'm no spellcaster. I'm a psion, I don't need materials to use my powers, just mental focus and a target, and even then my psionics are limited, I can't use them much if I want to keep my constant use of telekinesis on my prosthetics." Was the answer of the masked adventurer, who had been pacing around in the shade, only stopping when they saw Belial.

They began to walk out of the shade of the building and to the town's other exit that ended on the beach. "At about one hour and a half if we go at your pace, at my pace, at only thirty minutes. I live in between two cliffs, far enough from the water so the tidal shift doesn't flood it, but near enough to bathe any time I want. I will have to look for another secluded area when we get back from the big city. I don't like it when others know where I live, call it paranoia, call it being careful, it doesn't really matter."

Dyon was trying to keep a slower walking pace than what they seem to be used to. They also kept a friendly tone of voice, apparently not upset anymore that they had to work together, it is very plausible that the masked adventurer had only have bad experiences when having to work with others adventurers, probably because they seem to have been paired only with douchebags or people who were too intrusive, that would explain why Dyon used to refuse or to let their companions behind while doing quest with others.


	4. IV

The sight of the ocean was always a pleasant sight. The scent, the sight, the sensation of the sea breeze. It made living in Veritas a much more pleasant thing - that was, until the stormy season came. Belial couldn't count the times in the past handful of years his windows had shattered due to debris or intense wind.

Belial had to admit - he was, by all means, slow. He was on the older side, after all, lacking the sort of energy that Dyon seemed to have. Though, this didn't mean he was a frail thing. Even then, it was obvious to him that they were a bit of a pacer, or a fast walker. He wondered if it bothered them, that he was slower. He seemed much less irritated than he expected, a pleasant surprise.  
"Your pace it is, then. Try not to give this old man a heart attack."  
He laughed softly at his own jesting, something he seemed to do quite often.

He couldn't imagine living on the beach for the majority of his time, but he imagined, as an adventurer, Dyon wasn't exactly "home" often.  
"Hey, that's just being careful in my opinion." He agreed, looking along the shoreline, towards the cliffs. It was quite the distance, one he wasn't sure they could actually reach in some thirty minutes. But, who was he to say?

The first step into the sand left the imprint of Belial's boot, sand he was not looking forward to dragging through his home. It was relatively dry, as the tide was at its low point at the moment. Belial's descent from the dock to the beach was surprisingly short, as he had begun to pick up the pace. Perhaps they could reach the encampment in a decent time after all.

\---

They looked up at Belial when the other made that comment about going at Dyon's pace, as an answer the masked adventurer laughed slightly, and then sprinted through the way to the beach and once in the beach continued to do so, but at least they made some stops to look back and see if the tiefling was still following them. 

It seems like they have a lot more of energy on themselves than what they let others know, it is very probable that Dyon usually invests all of that energy on small quests or training, or at least it doesn't seem like they do anything else, as they, being as secretive as they are, don't seem to have any friends or colleagues to talk with.

While Belial had just stepped into the sand Dyon was already at midway to the first cliffs at the left of the beach, but it couldn't be that easy nor that near, not at all, the beach had miles and miles of cliffs and hidden areas, the masked one's encampment must be in a secluded area between two cliff sides that most probably was only accessible when the tides were at a low point, like now.

\---

Belial's jaw dropped in an exaggerated expression of surprise.   
"H-hey! That's not fair!"   
He called out, picking up the pace to a full run. While he didn't feel the burn of it yet, he would certainly begin to feel it soon. Even more so after it was all said and done. His run led him to reaching Dyon's position halfway near the cliffs in twice the time.

To reach the cliffs themselves was another thing - a long amount of running that Belial was only used to in the moments of intensity known to battles and the like. His chest heaved in air that burned his lungs - it would have felt pleasant, had he been... healthier, he supposed. Maybe he should consider doing more running exercises. 

"Huff huff - how much farther did you decide to hide yourself?" He said, half indignant, half serious. Even in Belial's most paranoid moments, he never hid himself along the cliffs. He had considered it a dangerous area. Though, as he had said before, he thought it a smart idea. Dyon was unlikely to be found, which was just what they wanted. "I only have so much energy in me, you know." Moments like these made Belial wish he could fly, something he had only experienced in the heat of battle. As a Storm Sorcerer, his control of storming energy allowed small moments of flight, powered by the winds.

\---

"We're not that far away, just another sprint and then a small walk up into the area between two of the cliffs, when the tides go up there's a portion of that area that stays above water level, that's where I have my encampment, there's even a few not too big trees ... Sometimes wild sea crocodiles get too close, but sadly for them they can't climb walls while I do, and usually they leave and don't come back if I slap their snouts with my prosthetics hard enough, never the same one approaches my camp, they're pretty intelligent."

Only when they were already near the cliffs was when Dyon's voice started to show signs of fatigue, still that didn't mean the masked one couldn't continue running or talking, in fact, they radiated off enthusiasm and amusement.

The masked adventurer acts pretty much like someone who has tried to not interact with others much, out of what seems to be fear and paranoia, not wanting to be seen unmasked or to be taken off guard, and it was easy to act all silent and closed off to others when those others were young and daring adventurers or just plain rude people. But as Belial wasn't being like that, Dyon was giving him an opportunity of seeing how they really acted when not around people that were too inquisitive towards them, sometimes someone's acts say more of the person than their looks or words. And if the tiefling manages to earn the masked adventurer's trust then it was possible that Dyon themselves decides to reveal their identity in a future.

"And here we are! Just gotta walk up further into this small beach area between these cliffs." They said, waiting at the entrance to a secluded area that had a small cave like part further into the cliff's wall, the area was not that small at all, it was just mostly protected by the two large cliff walls at either side of it, and further into the land there were indeed a few medium size tropical trees.

Dyon waited at the entrance to the secluded piece of beach for Belial to reach the area.

\---

Another sprint, they said.  
Belial wanted to groan, as if he was dying. But, he held that back in fear of insulting his new partner. Thus they ran on, entering the area overlooked by the cliffs. The water lay close by, something that made Belial feel as if he was being watched from the depths.  
Though, that was pure nonsense. Aquatic life had much better things to do than watch him of all people.

As Belial finally reached the area in which they had made camp, he took a moment to catch his breath. "Great," he said in a breathless voice. "We made it."   
The small cave in the cliff face was an impressive place to make camp, providing both privacy and protection from the weather. Though Belial couldn't shake the feeling that, come high tide, they would be trapped on the little inlet of rock and sand.

As he finished catching his breath, Belial looked back towards Dyon. "I'll start with taking down the tent," he said, his white eyes looking behind them to find said tent. It wasn't in straight eyesight, at least from his angle. Though, he did not doubt there was a tent, or at least some form of extra protection.

Insofar, Dyon was much easier to handle than anyone he had been paired with before. A friendly person, one that didn't stink nor had a bad temper. Belial almost felt blessed, that his secondary mission may turn out to be something interesting. Rather than ripping the mask off like some ill mannered asshole, it was much easier to befriend them and, over the long course of their espionage, find out on Dyon's own terms.

\---

The tent was half inside the small cave and half out, shielded from the view with some large tree leaves, and opposite from it on a tree were two other bags of holding, that looked older and more worn out than the one Dyon has on, those were probably empty or almost empty. There were also two open kits of utensils used to repair weapons and keep them clean whose contents were scattered around the floor near the tent and a few other prosthetics that seemed unfinished. To the right out of the cave area was a small campfire that was not lit up, and it doesn't seem to be something the masked adventurer uses much.

"Okay. It's up there, in the cave. I'll take my belongings that are around the floor. Sorry for the mess, you're the first person that ever comes here, and as we know, all of this was not planned. Just be careful of not stepping on my projects or tools." Dyon had looked around some, making sure that there were no crocodiles in the water or beach near the area, when they were done doing so they went onto the task of taking their belongings and putting them in both, their bag of holding, and the two older bag of holdings that were hanging from one of the trees.

"Also, if the high tide comes, I can use telekinesis to hold the water away while we get out, albeit we will have to be fast again, I used my psionics a lot today as I was training before being called by our guild's leader and I won't be able to use them for long."

Taking down the tent and collecting Dyon's belongings wouldn't take the two adventurers that long, as the masked one doesn't have a lot of belongings.

\---

Even at a glance, now that Belial saw it, the mess was clearly bothering him to some degree. Unorganized, scattered messes seemed to bother him, though not extremely. It was mostly the idea of having to watch his step to avoid breaking anything. As well as the idea of someone willingly living in a mess. It was... well, an unpleasant thought all around.

As he said he would, Belial started on the tent first. Taking it down was easy, something he was rather used to doing. He started with moving anything inside of the tent.  
Removing the pikes in the ground, he used a string to tie them together. Then, he rolled the tent itself up and, yet again, tied it together with another, thicker string. Once that was completed, he sat the two bundles against the cave wall for later collection. He was operating on the assumption that they were going into one of the three bags of holding scattered about or being carried.

He turned his attention to Dyon, who was supposedly cleaning up the mess upon the cave floor. "I'm going to keep an eye out on the water." He said, already beginning to walk to the edge of the rock protrusion. He wondered if Dyon could hold off the tides long enough to get out of the cliff area. While he did not doubt their power, he did doubt the ability to hold such a thing for so long. The seas were a powerful thing, after all. 

Looking out on the water, Belial was sure he could see a group of shapes in the water.  
"Huh. That's weird. Dyon, you said the crocodiles usually stay away, right?"

\---

While Belial had finished quickly, Dyon had used telekinesis to put all their belongings in a pile, now they were sorting them and putting order in the little chaos, each tool or half finished prosthetic were looked over and then put in one of the three bags of holding, they seemed to be classifying the objects in some way.

"Huh? Yeah they do. Unless they are younglings that have migrated from the place where their eggs hatch to these beaches in their mating season, there's always some of them that approach too much ..." They made a pause, thinking, then spoke again. "Uh, what month are we in? I lose track of time easily, so it may be their mating season, just, get away from the water, get up on a tree or the rock walls and I'll bap them until they leave."

The masked adventurer had finished putting their stuff on the three holding bags, including the tent. After they had done that they got out of the cave, carrying the three bags, staring into the water, noticing the rising tide.

"Or maybe .... Alright! New plan, I'm going to push both, the tide and the crocodiles away, you will have to run out by the passage between the tide and the cliff wall to get back to the town's beach. I'll be following you. Does it sound good? Any suggestions?"

\---

"It's September," Belial replied, his eyes focused on the water. High tide was indeed rolling in, covering up the sand that was to be their escape. The water looked deep and rather dangerous; any slip up would end in either of them sliding into deeper, dangerous waters. The mere idea was enough to make Belial start fidgeting with his fingers.

They had said their psionics were limited, hadn't they? Such a thought made Belial worry for them, taking so much of the work while he escaped.   
"How about I handle them, and you control the water?" He suggested, looking down still. The shadows in the water he had seen were likely those beasts that he would now have to think of a way to subdue so they could escape.

He glanced towards the bags, before nodding. "That way you can carry your things - I'll be your free hands." Saying such, Belial looked towards their escape way, beginning to approach. A scaled head rose from the water as he approached, but was quickly warded away by a jolt of electricity that sparked through the water. The source was from Belial's outstretched hand - a subdued thunderwave simply meant to deter, not harm.

\---

The other was securing their bags around their shoulders, equipping them on as someone would equip a satchel, they gave a nod at Belial's words, but not knowing if the other was looking at them the masked adventurer also answered. "Alright, then, who goes first? I need to be closer to the water to move it up, it would be good if we cross the area at a fast walking pace, but not running, I can't concentrate while running."

Dyon approached towards their way out too, taking the initiative and going in first, immediately using telekinesis to move the tide back and up. To do so they had to concentrate for a moment, just that, not even move their hands up or anything like that, it wasn't necessary, not if one knows how to concentrate correctly. Soon they left the path completely free, their psionics seemed to be working alright, so alright that they even threw one of the crocodiles far away back into the ocean.

"Let's go! My powers are working fine for now, but I do not know for how long they will work." They were already advancing through the path as they said that, waiting for Belial at a quart from the way to the other beach.

\---

"You should go first," Belial said, his hand still outstretched towards the water as he allowed Dyon to go ahead of him. His gaze was focused on the water's edge, even as it was pushed out of the way by a powerful wave of psionic power. With the way cleared, Belial jumped from the rock outcropping to the soaked sand.

Dyon was certainly a fast one, already a quarter of the way out of danger. Belial was soon right behind them, his hands crackling with electricity. The scent of ozone was strong around him as his magic conducted said electricity, the feeling of an oncoming storm. Another firing off of a thunderwave. The attack only skimmed the beast's side, but still managed to scare it off due to the pain it caused.

With the bought time, Belial was able to sprint to shore, following Dyon's steps. With them out of harm's way, Belial allowed himself to relax.   
"Everything in check?" He asked Dyon, while he took a moment to catch his breath again. He had put quite a bit of energy into sprinting to the other side, though slow enough that Dyon could keep up without breaking their concentration. "I will say, though. That was pretty cool. I'd certainly like to see what else a psion can do someday."


	5. V

Once on the other side Dyon stopped their telekinesis, and the water splashed back into place, scaring some of the other crocodiles away pretty comically. The masked one had walked some more further into land, but not out of the beach yet, stopping they turned to face Belial, their breath was ragged, coming loudly from behind the mask, everything was not in check.

"You, Belial. Don't. Don't get my mask off while ... I'm un-...conscious . . . ." With a tud the psion fighter fell face first(mask first?) into the sand, prosthetics scattering around their body as their psionics stopped working, the exhaustion had taken over, maybe Dyon had not told the other how much mentally exhausted they really were, or maybe the masked one was really out of shape with their psionics.

Either way, they won't be waking up anytime soon, and taking their mask off would be breaking any trust that was starting to build up between them.

\---

There wasn't much time to reach before Dyon fell mask-first into the sand. Belial couldn't imagine doing something invasive while someone was unconscious. That crossed a line one could not turn back from. Thus, when Dyon collapsed, Belial hurried to pull them away from the water. He managed to pick them and their prosthetics up in a hurry, carrying them away from the water's edge.

Belial carried the unconscious person to the dock, where they eventually collapsed themselves - though without passing out. Belial inhaled sharply as they put them down, careful not to disrupt them. Then, he allowed himself to sit down, though it was much more like collapsing. 

"Gods, you're heavy..."  
Belial groaned, though it was doubtful Dyon could hear him. He never wanted to carry them around again, if he could help it. Being 6'9" certainly didn't make them weigh anything light.

\---

It took at least two hours for the masked adventurer to wake up again, evening was already upon them when they woke up, immediately sitting up in panic, wanting to check if their mask was still on. This was a mistake as they had to lie back down as soon as they had sat up, letting out a groan, but coming back into their senses enough to notice that they did have the mask on.

That calmed Dyon enough for them to look around, without trying to use their psionics again, because being awake doesn't mean that they're fine enough nor ready to keep using their mental powers, not at all, the only thing that changed is that now they were conscious, but pretty much still mentally exhausted.

"Belial? .... I'm sorry. How long have I been out?" Dyon asked, voice slow and dull, they kept looking around slowly, not really seeing Belial yet, their vision was probably unfocused and blurry, but it wouldn't take long until they could see alright again, and the darker it gets the better they will see. "I have been using my powers .... A lot lately, trying to be as good as I was. And not sleeping enough, I don't usually need to sleep much anyways. Agüita knew, she told me to stop doing it, but I'm a stubborn dumbass. I never listen."

They were rambling, making many pauses between strings of words, conscious but not alright yet. "I'm hungry. Later, I will need to get into the forest, I'll eat there, alone. I don't want, I don't want to be seen without my mask. It's not safe. I also need to drink water. My prosthetics? Where are they? ... It's too warm, I hate this climate."

\---

Two hours of waiting left Belial with precious little to do. Of course, he wasn't going to leave Dyon behind. It was hard to tell what would happen to them if he did. He didn't want to think about that too much.

When Dyon finally awoke, the evening sun hung in the sky. Belial was sitting on the steps that led to the beach, not far from where Dyon was laid. Hearing them speak, Belial turned his head quickly. He had not been expecting them to wake, having already been considering carrying them to a safer place.   
"Are you okay? No, don't answer that, I think I know the answer." A pause, as Belial collected his thoughts. "It's been two whole hours." He finally informed them. Two whole hours of unconsciousness.

By the way they spoke, it was obvious that they were still fatigued. Belial was no doctor - many things could have easily been wrong, and he would not be able to help. He could, however, make sure Dyon didn't get worse.  
"I put your prosthetics in your bag." He told him. The bag he had put them in was the bag he had put his sword prosthetics in earlier.

Belial stood from the steps, coming closer to Dyon. "Do you need anything else? We should probably go to my home. It's safer, but... you don't have to stay, once you get your bearings."

\---

As the tiefling spoke the masked adventurer fell silent, sitting up again, slowly this time, they stayed like that, without using their psionics to take their prosthetics from the bag. They weren't feeling good enough to do that, so for now they were rendered into just a handicapped and disoriented person who kept rambling, most of it was incoherent.

"A house? That sounds nice. But I don't want to be a bother. I have bothered a lot of people already. I don't want to bother anyone else. I'm sorry. This is all so difficult. No one prepared me for this, for it, the divide, the great divide .... There was so much death. I could hear the others dying, psionic screams, calls for help. But I couldn't ..... I can't help, I only bother. This is a bad idea." 

Dyon fell silent again, deathly quiet, head facing towards the ocean, for about a minute they remained like that, staring at the ocean through the mask while sitting on the sand. Finally they shook their head some and got up rather skillfully, without arms gaining balance should not be easy, but the handicapped psion was used to it, they seem to have snapped out of the exhaustion induced weird rambling state.

"I'm sorry. I was disoriented, did you mention going to your house? I don't know about that." They made a pause, then continued. "How many rooms does your house have? Could I stay tonight if you have an extra room? It would be good for me to rest properly. Ignore whatever I said before, my mind was still foggy from the exhaustion, everything is more clear now, I'm fine for now."

Finally, their psionics began working again as their normal arm prosthetics were pulled out of one of the holding bags and equipped in their respective places.

\---

Belial stared at them with a concerned expression as they rambled. What he spoke was highly emotional, but made no sense to the tiefling. What was a great divide, and what did Dyon have to do with it? It sounded... violent, traumatizing, horrid. Belial almost didn't want to know, yet wanted to at the same time. However, asking felt like something he should not do - at least not yet.

When Dyon finally started making sense again, Belial still stared. His expression remained that of concern, not trying to hide it.  
"It's a two-room." He said, watching Dyon stand. Belial had always hoped that Solace, his son, would find him one day. In that event, he had always made sure to have room in his home for him. "That is a bit hard to ignore, but... I'll try to forget it."  
That… was a lie, but they didn’t have to know that!

The arms returned to normal, bringing back the appearance of Dyon that he was used to. He thought the bone-like design of the prosthetics were interesting, as he watched them come back into place. That sentiment was not spoken, however, as Belial began to show them the way to his modest home. Upon arrival, Belial opened the door and allowed them to enter first.

It was small for a two bedroom, with the living room and kitchen being both small and connected. Surely that was a fire hazard, but Belial didn’t seem to care. The home was decorated with old photos and items that likely originated from questing. Things like gemstones, a mounted owlbear, and a scroll in a display case. The photos featured Belial alongside a Drowish woman and a small tiefling child - taken in the style of a family portrait. As said, the photos had an aged quality to them, being more than eighteen years old.

“Well, welcome to my abode. It’s a bit small, but it’s home!”

\---

It was quiet as they followed Belial to his house, it seems like their quiet demeanor had decided to come back, or perhaps they were too tired to talk as much as they had done before. That tiredness could be noticed in how the masked one walked at a slower pace than in any other time of the day before, all that energy and enthusiasm from earlier was gone now.

Once inside the house the masked one looked around, because they may be tired, but they're also curious, and for the first time wanting to learn more about a colleague, albeit still cautious.

"I think it's a nice house. Big ones always feel empty. I used to live in a place that I would call a big house, really big, with many others, until they were all taken away and one day I found myself alone, I felt the emptiness of the place, then left. Who are the ones in the pictures? Sorry if my question is intrusive, it's not necessary that you answer it."

As soon as they were done talking about themselves they tried to change the conversation so Belial would talk about himself some, not wanting to be questioned about what they said or about what they may have let out when disoriented. In the state of mental exhausting it was difficult to keep themselves from talking about things they should not mention, and the fact that they really wanted to talk with someone was making it all worse, but they managed to keep silent as they looked over the decoration and photos.

\---

The change in pace felt strange, foreign. They had only been quiet in public settings, yet now they were quiet as a mouse. It could be due to fatigue, though no matter the reason Belial wouldn't fuss at them for it. Belial understood to some degree that Dyon was exhausted, at the very least. He didn’t want to push them into conversation, or anything else.

As they spoke, Belial couldn’t help but relate. To be alone was a curse he would not wish upon his greatest enemy. Oh, how the tiefling longed for that void of companionship to be filled. Though, he doubted anyone could truly fill it the way Uliyanna had.   
Belial was not so happy about the change in subject, as it only brought up more of those strong emotions.

“Ah, no. It’s fine - I’m the one with the pictures up. It’d be strange if I didn’t want to talk about them.” Belial said as he picked up the closest one - the family portrait. He examined it with a faraway look in his eyes before speaking again. “This is my family. Err.. was.” He held out the frame, allowing Dyon to examine it closer. “The woman is my wife, Uliyanna, and the baby is my son, Solace.”

A pregnant pause.

“Uliyanna passed, a long time ago. It’s.. I don’t want to talk about it.” He admitted, a downtrodden look upon his face. Seeking to rectify these emotions, Belial replaced the portrait. “Anyways, enough of that depressing shit. Should I show you to your room?”

\---

Dyon shook their head a bit, getting themselves more awake, not wanting the exhaustion to take over again. "Sorry. And sure, show me the room, before I talk too much again, because I got depressing shit too, the problem is I don't want to talk about it, not ready to do that, it still feels too fresh."

The masked one stared at the picture when it was held out for them to look at it, the family on it seemed to have been very happy once, but now that they looked up at Belial they could see how that happiness was very far away in the past.

As the tiefling showed them around they spoke up again. "Is there anything you would like to ask me? I'll try to answer within what I feel like I can tell. I'm sure you're already aware that I don't wish to talk much about myself, still I'm sure I can answer some stuff, like, I don't know, questions about my psionics and abilities? Or questions about how we will do the quest. We could plan how to proceed once there, it would be better that way."

\---

"Don't worry about it. That takes time," Belial answered as he led him to the guest bedroom. It was an empty room, save for the twin bed that was positioned against the right wall next to the windowsill. It seemed Belial did not want to decorate a room that no one had lived in. Though, the emptiness of the room had a creepy aspect to it. Belial wasn’t the type to be creepy, though, was he?

Dyon’s offer made him do a double take.  
“Are you sure about that?” He asked, uncertainty in his voice. Even with the limitations, their willingness felt off. Had they banged their head when they fell? Or was it due to fatigue that they acted in such a way? Not receiving an answer, Belial decided to go for it.  
It couldn't hurt, could it?

“Well.. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you a part of an adventurer’s guild?” He asked, looking at the taller masked person. If they were not the type for teamwork, then why join something where teamwork played an important part? It made no sense to Belial. Perhaps there was a deeper meaning to it, perhaps the meaning to it was something simple. There was a pause in Belial’s thought process, as something new came to mind.

“And, try to lock up before bed. I have.. Compulsions when it comes to leaving things unlocked.”  
By that, he meant spending hours checking and checking the lock, urged on by heavily intrusive thoughts. It made sleeping hard, but eventually he knew his thoughts would be satiated and allow him rest.

\---

Once in the guestroom the first thing Dyon did was sit on the bed and get the three bags of holding off, letting those on the floor gently. They don't seem to mind that the room wasn't decorated, in fact they only seemed to worry for the window in the room some, having stared at it for a while before turning to look at Belial again. "I needed to sit, I'm still slightly disoriented by the exhaustion, but it's fine."

When asked about their motives to be part of a guild the masked one first looked up at Belial, then at the window and finally down to the floor. "It's the only job that doesn't require that I take my mask off. Plus, it's not the first guild I'm part of, I used to be part of a non-humans only guild with my sister and brother. One of the guild members had a ship, we,... we fought a hostile sea serpent once, it was amazing. I guess I wanted to fill a void, but it isn't the same anymore." They quieted when they felt that the question was answered, then spoke again to talk about the door.

"Don't worry, I'll lock the door, and if anyone tries to open it that person will get their hands burnt. I have an artifact that when put in a door it gives whoever tries to force it some minor burns on the hands, sadly this artifact only has five uses left, my sister made it, she knew how to recharge it, I don't. Arcana has always been a strange concept for me, but not for her."

Dyon held one of the bags and put one of their prosthetics hands in, after a moment they took out a small triangular metal artifact that had a carved rune in the middle, they left the artifact on the bed while letting the bag of holding fall back into the floor.

"Got any more questions I can answer?" Their tone of voice was calm but also reflected tiredness, a tiredness that Dyon was ignoring or forcing away.


	6. VI

Belial glanced towards the window, following the brief gaze that Dyon had given it. Did they want it covered? He could find something to do so, but he didn’t have anything like blackout curtains. Though, who would want to peep through the window this late? Belial was not a suspicious person; as long as no one had seen him go inside with Dyon, he wondered if they would have a window peeper.

The longer he thought about it, however, the more sensible the thought became. He wanted to rectify that issue as soon as possible.  
“I’ll get you something to cover the window before I go to bed.” He decided, and that was that on the subject of the window. At least, it was for now.

Belial nodded along to his tale, finding no reason to disbelieve them. While Dyon hadn’t been terribly forthcoming with tales that involved themselves, what they had said had felt truthful.   
“A sea serpent? That’s amazing.”  
He said, a look of surprise upon his face. The creatures that he had faced in his lifetime had never been to that scale. It was awe inspiring to imagine fighting such a majestic beast.   
“I’m sorry you had to leave them, I can… sort of imagine how it feels.”

When the doors were brought up, Belial laughed an awkward sort of laugh. “I appreciate the help, but it’s harder to explain than that.” With the mention of the arcana, Belial perked up, his expression morphing from one of worry to one of interest. “Arcana, you say?” He asked, with the tilt of the head. “If it isn’t too complicated, I may be able to recharge it when we need to.”  
The change in atmosphere as Belial found something they found a great interest was palpable.

“Well, I suppose I have one more question left - you said you had a brother and sister. What were they like? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Belial glanced towards the window once more, taking note of the time. "Or you could go to bed. You need the rest."

\---

Dyon didn't say anything about the window, they just turned their masked face and kept staring down for a while. Then looked up at the tiefling, speaking up and adding onto the sea serpent tale some. "Ah, well, it wasn't really a big one, the sea serpent, she had been attacking boats and getting too close to the Underdark's sea harbour towns of the area I lived at. Also there was like forty of us, so it wasn't that hard, still I got knocked out like five minutes in and my brother had to defend me."

They chuckled, founding the memory funny, then, they fell quiet for a moment, thinking, until they decided to correct Belial's statement. "I didn't leave them. They died." The masked adventurer took one of the holding bags and let it on the bed beside them.

"I don't know how complicated it is. My knowledge of arcane magic is very limited, but I'll let you check the artifact another day." They said, wanting to answer to most of Belial's words.

Dyon took a flask and a bundle of dried fish from the bag of holding they had left on the bed, leaving those in the bed too, to eat and drink water later. "So, you want to learn about my siblings? Well, my older brother's name is Feros, my little sister's name is Anerjy. Feros was a knight, very strong and amazing, brave too, albeit a bit of a crybaby when my sister or I got hurt. He always protected us, to the point that even when he got turned into a dullahan he kept loyal to us, his desire to protect his family was stronger than the will of the wizard aspiring to be a lich that turned him." A small pause, they were clearly upset remembering that.

They shook their head slightly from side to side, then continued on. "As for my sister, she was a psion too, Anerjy tried to understand arcana, she wanted to learn a way to combine both, psionic power and magic, she had the theory that both things were not incompatible, just difficult to harmonize. She was sweet and daring a bit too naïve and easy to influence too, that led her down a bad path."

\---

The story of their siblings was a compelling thing. The emotion of loss was clear to the tiefling, an emotion he was all too familiar with. To say something that didn't diminish what they had just shared was quite a hard thing to overcome. What could Belial say to such a thing?

"I'm sorry," he finally said. The weight of the conversation indicated that it was likely something he should not have asked. Belial turned his expression away, before it fell back upon the masked one. "Thank you for sharing that with me. I guess that means we have something in common." The emotion of loss was common amongst the people of this world, yet the loss they experienced was something stronger. A loss they could not recover from so easily. A loss that haunted them, left them in disrepair. 

He cleared his throat. His gaze seemed far away, thinking of many, many things.   
"I'll take a look at it before we go in the morning." He said, breaking a moment of silence. "Shall I let you sleep?"  
Even Belial was tired by now, the emotional strain certainly affecting him. He could tell Dyon was tired, wanting to give them their time to themselves. "If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen.'

\---

"Goodnight, I'll lock the door as soon as you leave. I'll sleep soon, I have to eat first." Was their answer, having remained silent, head tilted down as their gaze too was directed to the floor, after Belial spoke again. "But first, what can I use to block the windows?"

The masked one got up from sitting on the bed, slouching over a bit but soon standing straight again, Dyon was exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally by now, not being used to being all three at the same time was making them act erratically, that was why they were in a state of willingness to talk about themselves some, but now, now they were more in a state of 'If I don't eat and sleep soon I'll collapse again', so they walked towards the door of the room and waited there for Belial to go out and bring them something to block the view of the window.

"And it's fine ... I'm the one who insisted on talking." They leaned against the door's frame, now that they had gotten up and walked some they felt even worse from the tiredness, but Dyon dissimulated it, not wanting to worry Belial more, all they needed was a long rest and they will be alright in the morning.

\---

With Dyon's question, Belial momentarily left. When he returned, he held an old, dark grey blanket in his arms. He handed it to them. "You could use this." He hummed, thinking for a moment. "It should be able to stick it you shove it into the corners of the window."   
Belial would have offered to stick it into the wall with something sharp, but he worried that the objects may come out of the wall at some point. Thus, he did not offer.

"I enjoyed our conversation regardless," said the tiefling, pausing his speech to yawn. It had gotten late by this point, making it for quite the long day. "I'll let you sleep, then." And with that, he left Dyon on their own for the night, heading into the main area.

As Belial had warned, throughout the night he could be heard rising from his bed and compulsively checking everything and anything that could have been opened. This continued for at least two hours before it eventually stopped, the older man likely have finally fallen asleep. However his sleep was restless, haunted by dreams of tentacle-mouthed humanoids that taunted him, often with the corpse of what was once his wife.

Come morning, Belial awoke early as the first slivers of light peered through the windowsill. After sluggishly preparing for the day, he entered the main area, heading for the kitchen section. He wanted to make himself something to eat before they left, as he hadn't ate since the following morning. It was strange, having been so caught up in the day that he forgot to even eat.  
He would have to make sure he ate more, to make up for his loss.

\---

As soon as they had been handed the dark grey blanket the masked one had stepped to the window and forced themselves to use their psionics to cover said window up. They hadn't answered to any comments any more, instead Dyon had stared at Belial until the other left, closing the door, locking it and putting the lock artifact on it.

After that the masked one had taken their time to make sure they were safe enough to take the mask off to drink water and eat some of the dried fish rations they bought, pretty uncomfortable and on edge as they did so, acutely aware that if anyone saw them it could end badly, as people usually attack and kill anything that remotely looks like a walking cephalopod.

Dyon had only spent thirty minutes with the mask off but it had been enough to make them overly paranoid, so they put the mask back on and tried to sleep on the bed, it was too warm so they ended sleeping on the floor, well, more than sleeping it was far more similar to a state of total unconsciousness, in which they were vulnerable but needed to be on in order to rectify the damage they had done to themselves by not sleeping enough in the past weeks and forcing their psionics too much. In this state, all bodily functions slowed down, to a point that any doctor would have declared them dead, but no, it was just a deep dreamless dormant state.

The next morning Dyon had awoken around an hour after Belial did, but they did not come out of the room after eating and drinking water again, having done so far from the covered window through which the morning light entered a bit into the room. As soon as they were ready, mask on, prosthetics working fine and three bags of holdings equipped, was when they stepped out of the room. Holding the lock artifact in one hand, as they remembered that Belial wanted to look at it.

\---

In the kitchen, Belial was sitting by the hot stove, cooking what looked to be eggs. Had he went and got some while Dyon was asleep? It could have been possible. Hearing the door open, he glanced towards the direction of the guest bedroom.  
"Good morning, did you get enough rest?" He asked, his attention back towards the iron skillet and the frying eggs upon it. He considered offering Dyon some, but chose against it. After all, they weren't so fond of eating around others, it seemed. 

It was then that he noticed the object in their hand, following another look in their direction. It was the lock artifact, he remembered. Interest twinkled in his white eyes, already wanting to tinker with the creation. However, he had to eat first!

Moving the eggs from the skillet to a plate, he spoke once more. "I believe our ride is supposed to be in town by noon." He said, a peek out the window to confirm his notions. "At least, that's what I'm going to assume." It made sense to him, thus he regarded it as truth. Had it come earlier or later, he would have surely felt lied to.   
But, that wasn't the problem that filled his thoughts. He wanted to tinker with the artifact, to see if he could give it charge himself. Belial wasn't the smartest person, but interest was enough to keep him going.

Sitting at the table, Belial did well to scarf down his breakfast in quite the big hurry. Even then he came off as a fast eater, something of a skill when one was in a hurry. Once finished, he said, "Alright. I'll look through my books to see if I can find out how to recharge it. If not, I can try myself."

\---

"I am well rested now. I won't need another long rest in about a week, or if I overuse my psionics. And our ride is supposed to be around by noon indeed, maybe a bit sooner at most, but it won't leave without us, our guild leader would make sure of that. And by these words I mean that he has threatened me with being kicked out of the guild if I'm not in that ride when it's leaving, and alternatively he also said he would, and I quote, 'haul my uncooperative ass into the vehicle if necessary', which I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do ... Well, actually I'm just slightly sure he wouldn't do that."

The masked adventurer seemed in a good mood, for now, they even let out a raspy chuckle at the thought of Esca throwing(yeeting) them into the steam vehicle so Dyon doesn't 'accidentally' lose the ride at the last moment.

They held the artifact out for Belial when the other had finished eating, waiting for the tiefling to take it and inspect it. "When charged it has twenty uses, or a second setting of ten uses that makes greater burns in hands and arms, and a third setting of five uses and it sets the person's upper body on fire. I know those are the three settings of this artifact, no idea how to change from one to another or how to charge it. My sister never taught me because I didn't want to use its more dangerous capacities and, as you know, my arcana knowledge is almost none."

As soon as they weren't holding the artifact anymore Dyon began to pace around the kitchen/living room, looking around at the house better or just plainly pacing as they were doing yesterday. They seemed full of energy, it wasn't only psionic, but also physical, or maybe it was all psionics, who knows, psions users are odd and weird, not in a bad way, just different from the usual. It doesn't help that psionic users are rare to meet.

\---

"You say that now as if we won't see Esca waiting for us." Said Belial, wearing a playful smirk. Such a thing sounded quite like their guild master, something he could imagine him doing. "You are planning on coming along, I hope. I'd hate for you to get your ass handed to you." Belial chuckled alongside them, though his was less raspy of a laugh. For his age, Belial's voice was surprisingly smooth, though it had its gruff moments. It wasn't raspy, it wasn't gravelly.

As Belial examined the object, his thoughts surrounding it seemed to come to a halt. It was a foreign object, sat upon his dining table. He wondered if he could charge it with his sorcery, but other than that he had no idea what to do with it.  
"You can look around while I have a look in my personal book collection." And with that, he went to his room to search the bookshelf for anything about such an item.

Unlike his room, any book laid out in the main room of the home was of simple knowledge. Books on mythical beasts, a fictional story about the battle against an ancient black dragon, and a book on creatures of the Underdark. Though, one stood out, sitting upon the small bookshelf next to the only seat in the home. A book of Illithids, likely highly fictionalized and inaccurate.

Belial returned shortly into his journey into searching his shelves. However, he was empty handed. "I can't seem to find anything," he said, before adding, "but I'm still going to try to charge it for you." As it was both an invaluable tool and something sentimental, Belial didn't want to leave it be. "Have you ever watched your sister charge it?" He asked, rooting for more information. If Dyon knew, Belial thought, it was likely he would have already been using that method. However, it was always worth asking.

"Regardless... I'm going to try to channel some of my magic into it and see what happens."  
Hopefully it wouldn't explode.


	7. VII

"Oh, I'm going along. I like how this quest sounds and you have been nice enough for me to tolerate you and even attempt to do teamwork. Just, try to keep your pace up to mine at the city, because I will not slow down and I am familiar with the place enough to not get lost, unlike you." They were amused by the thoughts of Belial getting lost at the city, but they actually don't plan on letting the other get lost, maybe, as it would only be a waste of their time.

While the tiefling was looking in his personal book collection the masked adventurer eyed the books, spotting the one about illithids, they took it without doubting and opened a random page, as they read it over Dyon could only cringe at how inaccurate and wrong the information inside was.

When Belial returned they were still holding the book about illithids open, by their pose and slight shaking of head from side to side in a 'no' motion they seemed to be very disappointed with both, the book and whoever wrote it. "How do people even survive an invasion from these with such wrong and misleading information ...." They muttered, pacing from left to right before closing the book, stopping their pacing and doing a 180 degree turn to stare at the tiefling.

"Ah, well. I would prefer it if you didn't attempt to charge it. My sister used to speak about how the path of magic she followed was very volatile, she was trying to combine the pyromancy path and explosive spells with her psionics, even if our people and fire are not good friends. I have no idea how she charged it, she never let me stay in her working area for too long, mainly because I tended to pull pranks on her and mess with her tools, things of siblings." They explained, keeping the book about Illithids in one hand, intending to talk about it later.

\---

"You better," teased Belial, now gathering the adventurer's pack and satchel he was taking along. "I can do my best, but I can't make perfect guarantees. That would just be lying." While Belial did prefer his slow and steady pace, he could do his best to walk more briskly when accompanying Dyon. As he had learned, they moved quite quickly, having much more liveliness left in them than Belial. 

As he returned into the room, he spotted Dyon muttering to themselves over the book - one he recognized vaguely as one on Illithids. Judging by their reaction, they were... not pleased with the book.  
"Sorry, what was that? ... Oh, okay. That would probably be safer." He still glanced towards the book in their hands, quite curious as to their opinions. "I got that at a bazaar last year. It's... strange, isn't it? I didn't think Illithids worked like that." Belial didn't want to directly say he believed what was in the book, fearing being scolded by the much larger person.

"I'd hate for me to be blown up by technology I don't understand," he said, reverting back to the original topic. "The way you put it, it sounds... explosive." As he spoke, Belial opened a cabinet to reveal a hidden light crossbow and a belt with daggers attached to it. He lifted both items, placing the light crossbow on his back and the belt around his shoulder to his waist. "It wouldn't hurt to be a bit early, would it? Maybe we'll get to see this.. vehicle arrive!"

\---

"If the rest of the book is like these few pages I have read then I must say that the vast majority of it is bullshit, wrong, misleading or just plain untrue. I'm pretty sure that if it weren't because of the existence of races like Gith and Duergar that the Illithids would have taken over already a long while ago, as people up here have such a wronged knowledge! Like. Ugh. This book is trash, a pile of garbage. I'm upset now, just great."

The masked adventurer was fuming over the book and its contents, pacing again as they spoke in a tone of voice filled with both anger and hatred. "Belial. I request that you let me keep this book. I will purchase writing materials at the city and I will rewrite this book and then I will personally make sure it gets published and sold around. There is nothing more important than knowing how to end with creatures such as illithids. People must have access to the right knowledge and I will ensure so."

Dyon finally calmed down, standing at a side of the door to go out the house, they were muttering under their breath in a different language, it sounded odd, it was not usual undercommon for sure, sounded like a weird dialect.

Finally they looked up at the tiefling again, switching back to common language to answer to Belial, tone of voice portraying that they had calmed down some more. "Oh yeah, that, explosive magic, that was what she was researching. My sister had a liking for blowing things up, even if our people and fire never got along. Also sure, let's go early ..." 

They took back the artifact and stored it away into one of their three holding bags, they seem to at least have a bag for each different kind of objects that they owned, one bag was for the prosthetics, other for food and probably medical items, and the last one for miscellaneous items.

\---

If he had been the writer of such nonsense, Belial surely would have keeled over from embarrassment right then. Even then, he was still embarrassed to admit the book had not only been in his possession, but had been read. He was visibly blanched - however blanche a mauve skin could become - with shame.  
“I suppose that’s why you don’t buy cheap literature from a dude selling... Ah, let’s not finish that sentence.” Belial laughed nervously, feeling as if he had learned his lesson sheerly by the fit Dyon was having.

“I’d like to read that.”  
A pause.  
“You can burn the book after. I don’t think I want to keep it if it’s bullshit.”

Belial stared at them as they spoke the completely foreign language, one he surely could not understand. He was relieved to hear Dyon revert back to common. “I will admit, she must have been an interesting woman. Explosive magic does have its… fun.” He said, finally shaking off the last bit of shame. While Belial’s magic was a source of a storm, he wouldn’t pretend he didn’t like the explosive power of pyromancy.

Seeing that Dyon was ready, Belial headed out the door and to the docks. As they arrived, the vehicle was pulling in, hovering above the ocean’s surface. It was a large creation of copper, bronze, and iron; Belial could feel the power radiating off of its form as it landed at the end of the docks, stirring up wind and water alike. The person aboard was a stout man, by the looks of it: a mountain dwarf. Their beard was short, but braided, as was their brunet hair. They had a gruff demeanor about them, but otherwise seemed friendly. They stepped off the vessel, looking around before spotting them.

“Oy! Are you the two I’m lookin’ for?”

\---

"Sure, I will burn it and I will dance over its ashes. I only need it to correct any and all false information on it, as a guide to see which topics I need to correct, expand or add." The masked adventurer answered, putting the book in their miscellaneous bag of holding as they followed the tiefling out of the house and to the docks.

As they walked there Dyon answered to the other's comment about explosive magic. "It was fun and interesting to see ... But not when she used it to hurt our people, not only did it kill her, it almost killed me too. That's why I'm crippled. She was influenced into thinking that the traditional ways were weakening our people, so she tried to make us join forces with her and ... The others, the ones that were using immoral ways and had convinced her to help them. We refused, she retaliated and I had to stop her."

After that the masked one remained silent, walking always a bit faster than Belial. As soon as they were in the docks Dyon leaned against a railing, tapping the metal of said railing as they waited. As soon as they saw the vehicle arrive the masked one had stood straight and stared at the machine and its pilot.

"If you are Esca's friend, then yes, we are." They answered, looking around for said water genasi, Dyon thought that maybe Esca or Agüita would come over to wish them luck and check if the masked one was really going to cooperate, maybe they were just a bit earlier than the guild' leader and the manager.

\---

To call her an "interesting woman" took on a completely different meaning, as Belial learned a smidge of what atrocities Anerjy had committed. To become disillusioned by one's heritage to the point of blowing off your own kin's arms was quite the disturbing idea.  
"That is... quite disturbing to think about." Belial said in response. "I'm lucky you're here with me now, I suppose I could say."

Perhaps they had been early after all, given the lack of both Esca and Agüita. After all the threats towards making Dyon go on the ride, it was strange that the water genasi had yet to show their face.   
Regardless of whether or not the two had arrived, the dwarf nodded. "Aye, that would be me." They spoke in a gruff voice, expected of a dwarf. "You're here awful early."

In turn, Belial responded, "well, maybe we just couldn't wait any longer." A playful comment of which earned him nothing more than a funny look from the dwarf.  
"Anyways, the name's Elric." They told the two, before looking around.   
"Suppose you two are ready to go?" It seemed they were on the impatient side. Though they did need to meet with Esca, they had no qualms towards getting the ride ready to go as soon as possible. 

Which involved allowing the two to board the vehicle as it floated upon the water. Belial eyed it at first, not quite willing to board yet. "I think I need a minute to gain my sea legs first." He said, though he didn't look queasy. Perhaps it was a lie?

\---

"She wasn't herself when she did that. If I had the opportunity to have her back, her being herself, I would not waste it, the same with my brother. I'm glad to be alive, that way I can help others." Dyon didn't seem too affected as they talked about that, maybe a bit melancholic, but not upset, their bond with their siblings was so strong that if their traitor of a sister were alive the masked one would not doubt forgiving her, and the most they felt towards their lost siblings was sadness or melancholy, but never resentment.

Oh no, the resentment and hatred were reserved specially for those who manipulated their sister and started the war between their people, war that they mentioned yesterday when they were under the effects of mental exhaustion, the Great Divide, maybe Belial could ask them about it later on, as the masked one has been more open to giving certain details and information without really revealing that much.

Dyon shrugged at the comment of being early, pacing around the dock, not going too far away from the other two but never really standing still for too long. "I'm Dyon, and I am ready to go. But, we should wait for Esca or Agüita, they probably want to make sure that I'm here, as I am known for not being too cooperative, teamwork is not my style."

While they were waiting and talking a voice interrupted, as the water genasi woman came into the docks running. "Waaait up" She said, stopping at a few steps from the group. "My father wants to see you leave, he'll be here soon. You two weren't supposed to be this early." She frowned slightly as if she had been doing something else but was interrupted by the task of coming to the docks to stop them from leaving too early, then, Agüita smiled, trying to keep a kind and cheerful demeanor.

\---

It was touching, seeing how much they cared for their long-gone siblings. To have Dyon feel open enough to talk about his siblings felt like an advancement in their friendship. While they had only known each other a day, even Belial had admitted things he did not tell just anyone.  
Though… there was one thing that Dyon did not know. The darker secrets of Uliyanna’s demise, of which he feared to speak of. The reason he ran from his home, the reason he left his son behind at the behest of a religious group.  
Ah, it was all so complicated.

“I wish I could have met them,” said Belial. Unlike Dyon, his tone was more reverential - melancholic. The tale had obviously touched him - a fact he was sure to mask once Aguita came around. He turned his attention from Dyon and Elric to the water genasi, surprised she had decided to make her way… The way she spoke, it sounded as if she had been interrupted.  
Oops.

“Sorry about that, I was getting impatient,” said Belial with a soft laugh as, in the distance, he could see the burly water genasi approaching. His dark blue hair was slicked back, his shirt sleeveless. Esca was a big man, about Belial’s height, but twice the twiggy tiefling’s width. He waved, with a chuckle, as he saw the small group looking at him.

“Hey! You’re not going anywhere without me seeing that you’re going.” The water genasi said, taking a few breaths as he stopped in front of the group. It was then that Esca noticed Dyon, and an exaggerated look of surprise filled his bearded face.  
“Do my eyes deceive me? Is that really you, Dyon?” He teased, looking to get a rise out of them.

\---

The masked one became quiet again once there were too many people in the place for their liking. They stopped their pacing to lean against the dock's railing once again, tapping the metal with one of their prosthetics fingers, the metal of said finger against the metal of the railing sounded dull and quiet enough that it wasn't that much of a bother unless you were close enough to Dyon to hear it.

"Yes. It is. Who else in this town has a fashion taste this impeccable?" The masked one answered while gesturing with their free hand to their own clothes and, specially, mask, clearly joking, but their tone of voice sounded as if devoid of emotion. "I may not enjoy teamwork, but I don't want to lose my job, and finally you have found someone who I can tolerate, but I can't promise I won't leave them behind if they aren't fast enough."

Meanwhile the water genasi lady looked at the vehicle that belongs to the dwarf, then she went to stand near her father, keeping a polite smile on her face, albeit it was clear that Agüita wanted to leave already, she must have been doing something important.

\---

Belial found himself not slinking away from the small group that had formed, rather merging in with it. It wasn't often that he had the chance to willingly be around other people, thus he decided to soak up the feeling while it was still pleasant. Though, he doubted this feeling would last long before he wished to be alone in his home again. Something he would not be able to do for quite some time.  
Sigh...

"I know of several people with better sense of fashion," Esca joked back, laughing just as well. He seemed unbothered by Dyon's attitude, though the threat of what he would do to them had they changed their mind at the last minute was still there.  
"About damned time you found someone you can stand for longer than a couple minutes." Esca said, before giving Belial a hefty pat on the back.

"Oof! Careful there!" Whined Belial, the wind knocked out of him for a moment. A reaction which earned another chuckle.   
"I'm glad to see you getting along, at least." Esca added, before turning his attention to Elric and his daughter. "Are we ready to see these two off?" He asked.

A question that Elric gave a nod to.  
"Aye, captain. Ready as always." They said, already beginning to make their way to the hovercraft. Seeing that it was time to leave, Belial spoke to Agüita. "I'll try to be back before the wedding," he said in an apologetic tone. "Tell your fiancée I said goodbye, as well!"


	8. VIII

The masked one remained silent now, it was not an unpleasant silence, just that they didn't feel like talking, only nodding when talked to. They stepped towards the hovercraft but stayed on the dock near it, waiting for the others. Dyon seemed pretty eager to leave now, mainly to show that they weren't going to change their mind and try to stay.

The water genasi young lady smiled beaming out of happiness at the mention of her wedding. "It's fine, maybe you could bring us a gift from the city? Also I will tell her you said goodbye. I was doing wedding plans with her before I had to come over here to make sure you two didn't leave without my father seeing you both do so." Agüita's smile was sincere and kind, she wasn't that upset for having been interrupted from her wedding plans now.

"Wait, what? You're getting married?" Dyon spoke up, a bit too loudly, out of surprise.

To their words Agüita glared at them, frowned and pouted. "Dyon! I told you like two months ago! You even helped my fiancée's parents with having access to the aquatic areas of the town when that summer storm made the docks inaccessible. How can you not remember?"

For a moment Dyon seemed dumbfounded, then they finally snapped out of it, remembering those events. "Oh! Right! Sorry! I have had a lot lately on my mind and I forget stuff. I remember now. Look, I'll, I'll bring you both a few things as wedding gifts, alright? I apologize."

While Dyon apologized the genasi woman let out a chuckle and her smile returned. "It's fine. Don't spend all your gold on apologetic gifts. Just be back, the two of you, for the wedding." She said, glancing from Dyon to Belial as she spoke.

Even if it didn't seem like it, Dyon hung around the genasi woman and her fiancée a lot after finishing their easier quests, but only when no one else was around. They had some trust, but clearly not enough for the masked one to reveal their identity to her.

\---

"I'll be sure to save up for something nice then," replied Belial, before staring in complete awe at Dyon's obliviousness. It was a stare of humor, not of dismay. It was rather funny that they had been so oblivious to something Belial considered clear as day. Even Esca laughed at Belial’s reaction, before adding in, “That’s right. You best be back right on time, or you’ll have me to talk with.”  
With such a line, he included another hefty pat on Belial’s back.  
“I’ve already invited the entire guild, it’d be a shame if you couldn’t come along too.”

“Now get along, you two. You have business to attend to.”

As the three separated from the group, Belial seemed to be in a rather good mood, despite how his back ached from Esca’s rough housing.  
“Ah, I remember when I was that young and in love.” He chimed, a smile on his mauve face. “I didn’t know you helped them out,” he added along that train of thought. He was the second to board the vessel, letting Elric get on first so he could return to the pilot’s seat.

The vessel was large on the inside, now that its doors had been opened from them. It was like a carriage on the inside, with soft red leather seats. However, what made it unlike a simple carriage was the pilot’s seat in the front of the passenger’s area, with a steering wheel like that of a ship’s. Belial ooed and awed at the marvel as he stepped inside, finding himself a plush seat at the edge, next to an opened window.

“This is pretty nice, don’t you think?”  
He asked Dyon, waiting for them to take a seat as he leaned back in his own. It was of quality, something the tiefling was far from used to. He would be sure to savor every moment. Peering out the window, he would see Esca waving them off as the machine started, its roaring engine stirring up winds and waves once more.

\---

As soon as both Belial and Dyon boarded the hovercraft, Agüita rushed out of the dock, most probably to go back to the semi aquatic area of the town where her fiancée lived.

The masked one entered the vehicle, sitting at a seat by the window opposite to Belial's, far away enough from the other two that the much taller adventurer could relax a bit, albeit they seemed to be feeling nervous, maybe Dyon was claustrophobic? No, that couldn't be, not when they had lived in the Underdark. Maybe it was just nervousness towards the fact that this was the first time in a while that they went out of Veritas, last time they were at Praescamaria it hadn't gone too well.

"Uh? Oh, yes, I helped them. There were some logs on the way because of the storm, I took care of those with a few others that were there so the aquatic area was accessible again." Answered the masked one, not really paying attention to Belial, they seemed to be inspecting the vehicle from their seat in a way that could only mean 'I'm making sure I'm close to an exit just in case anything goes wrong', but, the tiefling's comment about their ride distracted them enough from their thoughts.

"I suppose. This isn't the first energy powered vehicle I've seen, never been in one before, but I have seen others. This one looks pretty nice, sure." Dyon was rambling a bit, not saying everything they wanted to say, it became more and more easy to detect when the masked one was letting information or details out as they spoke.

\---

Soon enough, the hovercraft began to move across the ocean's surface at a steady pace. The machine shook faintly with power as it moved, something that would likely take some getting used to. Belial was already beginning to wonder if he might get sick from the motion.

An expression of curiosity came upon Belial's face as they mentioned having been in the proximity of another ship of a somewhat similar property.  
"That's interesting! I've only seen land vehicles from a distance." Said the tiefling, his attention out the window as he watched the passing waves. The thrum of the machine made it hard to talk at a reasonable volume, meaning that they had to raise their voices to converse. It was beginning to make Belial's head hurt, but he wasn't one to make a fuss. He would simply find a way to calm his growing headache.

The way they spoke was becoming clearer when they hid certain bits of information. Belial's awareness of such a thing was strenuous, but he was able to notice the faint strands laced in their dialogue of something greater. He was reminded again of their rambling from the other day.  
Would he tell them of the Great Divide, once they were in private? Belial could only guess at what was to come.  
"If you don't mind... I think I'm going to try to rest until they get there."

\---

"I don't mind. I think I have a quill and some ink somewhere in my bags of holding, I'll start with correcting the book right on it, making notes and changes. Once I purchase enough paper I will rewrite it properly." The masked one said, taking the book about illithids out of their bag of holding and after rummaging a bit, a quill and an ink pot.

Maybe later the tiefling should question Dyon about how they seem to have more knowledge about illithid than someone who wrote a book about them, maybe the other had close encounters in the Underdark with those aberrations, that would explain why they wanted to fix the book up and publish the corrected version.

While the travel went by Dyon had started reading the book from the beginning. They had the book on their lap, they skillfully wrote comments and corrections on the margins of said book, making pauses to let the ink dry, then continuing with the next page. The task kept most of their attention, but it also was making them project out a bit of an upset psionic aura, Dyon really doesn't like the fact that the book is so full of inaccuracies.

At certain points, they made a pause from reading the book and correcting it, needing to look out of the windows or just not think of the book to calm down from the angriness and frustration that said book was giving them. The masked one was probably cursing the hell out of whoever wrote the book, it almost seemed as if it was written in that way on purpose.

\---

Belial made himself comfortable in the seat, soon falling asleep to the sound of machinery. The vast expanse of the ocean was all that would surround them for hours on end, giving him ample time to rest away his growing headache, and for Dyon to focus on their note making. It was a peaceful sleep, with little movement, much calmer than the rest he had gotten the previous night. Perhaps he slept better with someone around, even if the sleeping… venue was far from comfortable.

As the machine began to quiet, Belial arose from his slumber. He peered out the window as he stretched in his seating position, finding that the view from that window had changed drastically. What had once been thousands upon thousands of gallons of seawater, had been replaced by the view of a majestic, half-floating city. His gaze became one of awe as he marvelled at the sight. They were beginning to pull into the dock area, alongside multitudes of boats and other similar contraptions. 

He turned his attention to Dyon, as if to say “can you believe this?” The look soon faded, replaced with curiosity as to what they had finished so far.  
“How are the notes going?” He asked, feeling much less shameful about having owned the book than before. Luckily for him, it was a shame that only lasted in the moment. Dyon looked as if they had been working the past several hours.   
“Mind if I read some while we wait for the ship to dock"

\---

Dyon was putting the quill and ink pot back into the bag of holding they took it from, they turned their head to look at Belial through the mask as the other awoke and spoke to them. They offered him the book open by the first page that had written text about illithids on it. Now that page was full of notes and even a drawing down in the left that enumerated many weak parts of an illithid's body, the notes around it were mostly advice of where to aim when attacking an illithid directly.

"That book looks like it was made that bad on purpose. Probably something the Influencers did ... The Influencers are an illithid creed. They have several creeds or ideological groups that each work on their different ideologies, but all ultimately cooperate to reach the same goal, which is ruling over the rest of species and extinguishing all stars .... These influencers make sure that other species get wrong information about their species, they also manipulate other species's political decisions when they can. They're of the worst ones to encounter, much like the Tamer and Nourisher creeds. I could tell you more, but it would be better if I finish rewriting the book so you can read it instead."

The masked one's voice sounded like they will not be touching the book again in a while, as they seemed fed up from it, but they had already made notes in a quarter of the book, as the travel had been hours long.

"I'm a bit tired of that book, so I will probably continue correcting it tomorrow if I have time. But I hope that I don't get the time to do so, and instead hope that I get to beat someone up soon in our quest."

\---

Belial took the book, lying it on his propped up knee to read it. He found himself amazed at the work that Dyon had already completed. Advice on how to strike an Illithid was advice well needed, for the tiefling. He had always dreamed of striking back against the creed that had wrenched his wife from him, and it was Dyon who had the knowledge of just how to do that. 

It took Belial letting out a long, hefty sigh to detach himself from thoughts of revenge, to focus back on the conversation proper.   
“Sorry, what was that?” The tiefling paused as the topic registered in his mind, taking in information. “Oh, yes. The Influencers. As you may have guessed, I know precious little about actual Illithids.” The way he said their collective name was that of a curse, a blight upon his life. He handed the book back to Dyon, carefully shutting it beforehand.

“You and me both,” Belial agreed to the idea of knocking some sense into one or two of their targets. He needed an outlet for stress relief, as being around Dyon seemed to bring up many things from the past. Things he would have rather forgotten, to live his life as peacefully as possible.  
“This is a strange question, but… Why do you know so much about them? I know you said you’re from the Underdark. Have you interacted with them before?”

A pregnant pause.

“Did they take someone close to you too?”

Belial could remember it yesterday, Matriarch Enkess telling his dear wife that she was the sacrificial pawn to achieve their hamlet’s survival. That she belonged to the Illithids now, be it food or thrall. He had always imagined that her brain matter had been consumed, but…  
There was no way to be truly sure, was there?

It was at this time that the hovercraft finished its landing sequence, as Elric got up from the pilot’s seat and went out to anchor it to the dock.

\---

The masked one tensed in place when asked about their knowledge, they shook their head a bit, then took the book and stored it back onto one of their bags of holding. Dyon didn't answer right away, still visibly tense. "I am not ready to talk about that. But let's say I fought them for many years." 

As soon as the dwarf had anchored the hovercraft the masked one went out as quick as they could, going to lean against a railing of the docks. It seems they were having a mix of accumulated dizziness that they ignored from the travel on the machine, nervousness and just general bad feelings from the small talk.

"I think .... I think I should not have been writing on the hovercraft, I thought I wouldn't get motion sickness, I thought my constitution and psionic capacity could handle it, but I am not feeling too good ......" Dyon ended up sitting down, against the railing, trying really hard not to puke inside the mask, as they will not be taking it off, not even for that. It would not be something pretty at all.

\---

There was no response to be earned from Dyon. At least, not one that truly answered Belial’s question. He didn’t mind, yet he would remain curious. What had they meant, fighting the Illithids for many years? A curious statement, one he wanted to get to the root of.  
But, that was all for later.

While the masked one zoomed out of the craft, Belial took his time exiting. He was far less ill, even his headache had faded with the rest he had taken. Though, he had to admit, he felt bad for Dyon - their body language indicated that they were having a hard time not vomiting into their mask. He gave them a pat on the back, “sorry about that, bud.” He said, before looking at the dwarf.  
“Where is the cheapest inn from here?” He asked, receiving a response in the form of Elric pointing at the rusty building at the end of the docks. “She’d be right there, sir.” They said, before beginning to walk in that direction.

With such information, Belial was already beginning to question staying in such a shabby inn. It was cheaper, sure, but was it worth having bed bugs, or who knows what else?   
“You okay, Dyon? Need a few more minutes?” He asked, his attention back on his sick comrade. He wished there was a way to help, but alas he was not a cleric, not even a regular doctor.

\---

As Belial spoke with the dwarf the masked one got up, feeling better now that they were out of the vehicle, they stared at the inn that the dwarf had pointed at, then stepped closer to the other two, ready to get in on the conversation.

"We are not staying there. We will stay at one in the second level of the city. I will pay for our stay, money is not a problem for me, I don't have a use for it unless for the rare occasions in which I have to buy stuff. Unless you prefer to stay there, we can check the place out if you want." Dyon said, still having a bit of difficulties to stay standing still, soon they managed to, thanks to being already on their feet. "And I'm good, stuff like this doesn't usually affect me for long. My psionics failed a bit, but it's my own fault, won't make the same mistake of writing on a vehicle again."

They stretched, having been for too long in the same sitting position at the vehicle had sure made them uncomfortable too. After that they began to walk, not as fast as usually, towards the shabby inn. The masked adventurer clearly didn't want to stay at that inn, but they don't seem to mind checking it out. As Dyon has been at the city before they may know of a better place to stay at, it would be less cheap but they had offered to pay for the stay of the both of them if it was what was necessary for the tiefling to not insist on staying at the cheaper inn.


	9. IX

Belial couldn't be more relieved that Dyon agreed. No, they were not staying in that inn - not over his dead body. He had standards, and those standards he planned on upholding.  
"I'm keeping a six foot distance from that place, at least. I might get tetanus otherwise."

Even then, Belial still followed them in the direction of said inn. They could possibly get some intel from such a place, as it seemed the more shabby merchants were milling around. He wondered if they could find a target there, but doubted it. It was a bit too shabby for even the more poor members of that list. Nevertheless, now Belial was curious.  
What if they really did find something there?

Or not.

"Maybe we should just go to the second level," Belial finally decided, eyeing the building with more suspicion than before. Perhaps he had realized something about it, possibly the likelihood of them getting mugged or worse. "Then we... er, I can get something to eat before we go find Ratte." It was a simple plan: get some energy, then find the gnome. "You said she'd be the first we could find, right?"

\---

Dyon did a full stop and a 180° turn, walking towards another, more open area of the docks, further into the land under the shadow of the second floating level of the city. They spoke back, keeping a walking pace that was slow enough for Belial to follow them closely, being mindful for now, this was not a nice area to get lost at.

"Then follow me. There are public teleporters to move around the city and big official staircases. Though those are guarded and guards usually ask people to identify themselves. Therefore, we are going to use the maintenance ladders that connect each level, they're easy to access if you know how. Good for us, I had to learn to use them in the past. Their area may be stalked by thugs, but I know how to deal with those, easier than city militia or guards. There are a few nice places to eat at in the second level, most of the second level is residential and merchant, touristic even, Ratte will be at her house, she has her business up there."

As the tiefling followed them the masked one pointed at some small ladders that could be seen from where they were at, they weren't even a staircase, just vertical ladders that descended from a side of the platform that was several feet above them, the ladders reached down onto an alleyway of the docks that looked pretty shady, well, most alleyways looked like that in this area.

"I hope you don't have acrophobia. Do you? It would be less easy if you do. I don't know, maybe I can levitate us, or at least you, up." It was really interesting how they were planning stuff beforehand and thinking on alternatives while executing part of those plans at the same time.

\---

As was expected of him, Belial followed closely the closer they got to the more open area, in which water did not lap at their feet. His gaze did not linger on anything for long, as he took in the sights and sounds that surrounded him. It was completely foreign to him, a place he no doubt would have gotten lost in without assistance - be it purposely or accidentally.

“Yeah… no identifying for me.” Belial said, admittedly not wanting to be sent on a teleporting device for other reasons. Namely, he tended to get a bit ill right after. That was a thing he certainly could have gone without any day. Hopefully, dealing with thugs did not entail violence. As much as he wanted to fight, Belial did not want to be involved with thugs so early in their campaign.  
“No, I’m not acrophobic,” he answered, staring at the vertical set of ladders. He could see why they were not standard issues, given the fall risk. 

Expecting to be levitated up, Belial was already preparing himself for such an event. He had never done such a thing before, which made him quite curious. What would it feel like?  
Like flying?  
Such a thing he was accustomed to, albeit tentatively.   
Regardless of what Dyon planned, the tiefling was ready for it. What he was not ready for, was noticing the gathering of, well, thugs surrounding the area they would have to use to get up there.  
“Oh, boy. That’s just great.”

\---

"It seems like, we're going to have a problem. Or maybe I could just try to levitate both of us halfway up and then grab on the ladders, I doubt I'll be able to do more. I really don't want to fight thugs now, even though I would love to kick and punch someone anytime, I don't think this time is the best one for it."

The masked adventurer said, slowing to a stop at the entrance to the alleyway that the ladders could be accessed to through, which was indeed full of thugs, about five or six men of mixed races and a half orc woman who stood taller than the men and seemed far more intimidating. She seemed to be the leader of the small group, as she was the one directly leaning against the ladders that they had to climb to go up and stared at them from the end of the alleyway, expectantly and ready to threaten them for their money if they wanted to go up.

"Ah ... Yep. This won't be easy. Maybe I could give them some money or just do the levitation, maybe if we talk with them. How good are you at talking with people? I myself am good at intimidating only." Dyon was clearly nervous as they rambled, quietly enough that the thugs wouldn't hear but loud enough for Belial to hear. "So, what's the plan?"

While the masked one spoke to Belial the half orc woman got impatient, so she straightened up and walked half of the alleyway out and towards them, which made Dyon give a step back but then they gave it forwards again, not wanting to give out how nervous they were. They turned their face to look at Belial through their mask, most probably making a panicked face behind said mask.

\---

Belial was completely soured on the idea of having to fight their way through to a simple set of ladders. An emotion that showed in the crinkling of his brow as he thought about what to do.  
“Ah, don’t worry. I’m great at talking,” he said, with no hint of a lie. It was true - the tiefling could be quite the persuasive individual. Though, in the face of a large half orc, he worried.   
Could his words save them from the ire of a bunch of thugs?

Belial analyzed the situation in the best way he could - sizing up the half orc that stood a few inches taller than him. While their height was similar, she was a far more bulky person - all muscle. When she spoke, her voice was deep and gruff.  
“You’re a bit far from where you belong, tiefling. Why don’t you head on out and we forget this almost happened? Unless… you want to pay your way through?”

Belial smiled at that, taking the woman’s comment in stride. As large as she was, as strong as she looked, the tiefling was not deterred just yet. He wanted up those ladders, and by the Gods he would get them to them - fight or not.  
“You’re awful funny, miss. Talking to your elders like that.”  
A comment to which she spat to the side in distaste. “Yeah, whatever you say. How about you pay up or leave? Or are we going to have a tussle?”

Belial wanted to be brave, for Dyon. He could see that they were nervous, as he was too. Even then, he tried to act as if he had the encounter in the bag.  
“How about, instead, you let us through and we’ll leave it at that?”  
His tone changed from cordial to something darker, a power in his voice that hadn’t been heard before. The tiefling glowered at the half orc, before smiling once more.  
“I’d hate for us to have to fight. You see, I’d hate for you to get on our… bad sides. You never know when you may need us. I find no qualms in helping out… on certain things.” Another smile, this time as dark as the tone of the man’s voice. “You want someone taken care of, don’t you? A noble? We can do - that.”

The half orc stared at the two, giving a look that indicated she was impressed. Even a little intimidated, Belial would likely say afterwards.  
“Sprague. I want you to take care of Sprague.”  
She inevitably said.

\---

Hearing the name of one of their targets was like pulling a switch, Dyon stopped staring at Belial to face the half orc woman, standing taller than the rest at their almost 7' feet of height, now said height seemed far more outstanding than before as their nervousness had melted away, replaced by a calculative inquisitiveness. 

"Oh? Sprague you say? Well, then you have to choose if you would like it to look like an accident or not. People sometimes fall from the third level, you know, the railings aren't very secure, they're old and creaky, would not be the first time that I'm here and a person of power falls from the third level of the city ... Accidents happen." They made a pause, to let it sink in the fact that they were implying that it would not be the first noble Dyon pushes from the city's higher level. Maybe their personal matters at the city when they mentioned having been a second time before at Praescamaria had something to do with 'making accidents happen'.

Then they continued on, wanting to take the opportunity to gather any new information about this now double target. "It is a coincidence that our arrival here has to do with 'talking' with that person too, it seems like Sprague among others have been doing stuff that neither of us liked. First you should tell us all you know about that person, as you can see, we arrived recently."

They talked low, quietly and dull, but with a dangerous undertone, only for Belial and the woman to hear, wanting to add a secretive and shady impression about them, it almost seemed as if their voice came directly from the mask which added in creepiness.

\---

The demeanor of both of them had changed in an instant. The idea of pushing nobility off of the sheer face of level three was a tantalizing thought. Even more so as the half orc told them as to why.

Her eyes were downcast now, heavily frightened by the inhumanly tall masked one. Before they had been a muscular giant, now they appeared as a troublemaking teenager.  
"He - he is the reason my girlfriend is in jail." She finally said, clenching her fist with well earned rage. The turn of conversation was a strange one, but Belial preferred this to the other option greatly. "Actually, a lot of our loved ones have been put in jail by that man." They added, gesturing to the group that could not hear what they were saying. However, the gesture did earn their attention.

Belial nodded along, like a father listening to their child admit to something that scared them.  
"We'll earn your revenge, but we can't save your loved ones. You should consider doing that yourself instead of being thugs."  
This made the woman pause, thinking it over. She was thoroughly frightened by the masked one, even a little of the tiefling, which altered her way of thinking.  
"I can't make promises, but we will give it up if you get rid of him for us."

\---

"I see." The masked one added. "Don't worry. I can and will personally break every bone in that man's body. Then, I will throw him off the third level. It will be such a 'tragic incident', I can almost hear the news, Sprague found dead after his personal balcony's railing gave off under his weight and he fell into the abyss, death as soon as he collided with the floor and became a splotch of meat and bones." They kept their tone of voice quiet, but now showing a clear mean streak of sadism and hatred directed toward people like Sprague, that was most probably triggered by the talk they were having.

Dyon fell silent after that, they gave a step back, calming down and trying to look less intimidating, they felt like they had intimidated the woman too much and felt a bit guilty. It wasn't their plan to come off as that scary, but sometimes one cannot always control themselves. "My apologies. I really hate people like that man, people who abuse their powers and influence. Talking about them gets me riled up."

The taller one looked around, soon setting their stare on the ladders. "So, can we go up? We have to plan stuff first. But I can assure you that in no more than two weeks that man will be gone forever. We'll also have to come back down, we aren't going only after Sprague, so we will need full access to the maintenance ladders. Could you and your friends over there tell other stair-thugs about us and about what we plan to do? So we two can do our work faster, it would be easier for everyone that way. Also, if the guards or anyone else you don't know were to ever ask about us, give them a different description of us, it would be much appreciated. Don't get jailed, don't get killed, and I may be able to help with getting your loved ones out of jail after what my friend and I have to do is done. I won't ignore unfairness as the one that goes on at this place, not anymore."

\---

The half orc did her best to shake off the fear instilled into her by the masked stranger. It was a hard thing to do, all things considering. This person had a sadistic streak, something she didn’t want to get in the way of.  
So much for seeming tough and intimidating, huh? She may have been thinking.  
“The ladders? The ladders. Yes.” She coughed, looking back towards her crew to inform them of the news. An event which interested the group, causing them to gather around the pair with wide, amazed eyes. Upon closer inspection, they all seemed to be in the same age range: teenagers and young adults.

The information given to them by Dyon was taken well, earning nods and “aye”s. These people seemed to genuinely care about freeing their loved ones, whether they had actually done wrong or not. To them, they had experienced injustice at the hands of Sprague Kurnaz. “We will try to give out your description to others,” said the half orc woman. “But no names.” That way, if the guardsmen were to ask of them, they wouldn’t be able to provide names to the faces.

“You can go up the ladders, now.” She finally said, before dispersing the group.

Belial was nothing short of relieved to see the situation go from sour to sweet so quickly. A group of disparaged teens, of whom they were now the saviors of - in their eyes. He began to approach the ladders, looking back to make sure Dyon was following. “So, you levitate me and I help you up?” He asked.

\---

"Nice." That was all that Dyon said to the half orc waiting for the young thugs to leave the ladders free. They followed after Belial quietly, feeling like they had talked too much. "Uh? Well, can't you go up the ladders yourself? I can do so without help. It would be better if I don't use my psionics If they aren't truly necessary, but, if the way up is too much then I can levitate you."

Dyon inspected the ladders from where they were, then they gave a few steps back just to sprint back towards the ladders to jump up and grab onto the first step successfully. The ladders were made of rigid metal, positioned at least 6 feet or more above the ground, hanging from the side of the platform above them. When the masked one got on them the ladders rattled loudly at the contact of the prosthetics against their own metallic surface.

"Uh .... Maybe ... maybe it would be safer if I levitated you all the way up to the second level, these ladders are a bit, how to say it, not too solid, and it may or may not be my own fault, sorry about that."

The masked one got two steps up, grabbing at the sides of the ladder better as he did so, having had their legs dangling until they moved up, then looked down at Belial, and even with their mask on it was clear that they had an apologetic aura around them. "Well, are you ready to be levitated? I'll just not use my psionics much more today after this. We will have to stay at the second level for a while, which is fine, our first objective is there and we have to go rent a pair of rooms at an inn."


	10. X

It was at this moment that Belial had realized he could reach the maintenance ladders without much issue. However, Dyon was right. They were rickety, old things, that would likely buckle under the weight of two people. He imagined it might not have been so bad if he was on it, but with both of them it was far too risky. 

"Yes, I'm ready."  
He said after a moment's contemplation. He stepped closer to the ladders, looking up at Dyon with expectant eyes. "Don't strain yourself," he began, crossing his arms as if a bit nervous. "Really. If you drop me, it's not going to end well."  
He could imagine it now - all the broken bones. Would he survive such a fall? Honestly, he doubted it.

There were a lot of things Belial had to doubt, at the moment. Namely: rescuing these thugs' loved ones. Had they been genuinely bad people, they would be releasing genuinely bad people back into the world.  
However, Belial also knew that the world was corrupt, the law enforcement especially. Thus, it made sense that at least some of them were committed for wrongdoings not of their own doing.

\---

"Don't worry. I got this." And so, Dyon's psionics extended to gently lift Belial up, it seemed like they were fine and not straining at all, thanks to having been able to rest properly the other night.

And so, the masked one began to ascend the ladder at a good and steady pace, carrying Belial up through levitation, it was more like a benign telekinesis spell, and less like a flying spell. It took around eight minutes to reach the second level of the city, it being suspended up several feet, around the height of 180-190 feet above the docks' level.

When up, Dyon first moved Belial into the alleyway that the ladders ended at, the difference between one level and another was very easy to see, even the thugs waiting at the end of this one alleyway seemed both, less young and better clothed, they also seemed less friendly, but they didn't seem to have noticed the two newcomers.

Once the masked one got up too and saw what was waiting for them if they wanted to exit the alleyway made them sigh, and reactivate their psionics to quickly pull up both, Belial and themselves, over the roof (which thankfully was a plain roof and not one made of roof tiles) of one of the two buildings that kept the alleyway full of shadows. And on the roof they had to sit down.

\---

It felt different from flying, closer to the sensation of being lifted. Belial's feet dangled below as he was lifted into the air by unseen psionic force. The travel from one level to another was a long one, the view slowly changing from brick and mortar walls to a much nicer area than what was below. And with that, came a different breed of gang activity. These were the types of people that would stab as a warning, Belial thought to himself as he was lifted once more.

Upon the roof, Belial sat down next to Dyon while they rested from the exertion of psionics.   
"We're going to have to find a way to deal with that at some point," said Belial with a sigh as he looked down from the building. The streets were much nicer here - he could only imagine how much different the third level was.  
That is, if they ever made it to it. 

"Do you need to rest longer? I could probably get down myself from here." Belial suggested, locating a maintenance ladder on the side of the building. They could easily abscond from any thugs from there, as it was a good few feet away from them.

\---

The psion stared out into the area of the city they had arrived at while they rested a bit from using their psionics, tapping the roof with their hand prosthetics as they did so. The masked one seemed fine, but as psionics were more of a mental domain and the other wore a mask, seeing any signs of fatigue or exhaustion on the tall one was no easy task.

Eventually they turned to glance at Belial. "I need a minute, then we can get down the building, but I'm kinda hungry, sadly, I cannot take the mask off. So, I could just stay up here and eat here, while you go down? Do whatever you want, just don't get lost or in too much trouble." Dyon held up one of their bags, then they put a hand in the bag, soon taking out a bundle of rationed food. They let it over their own lap, unopened, waiting to open it once alone.

Maybe Belial could go explore the area a bit, if he was careful the public streets of the second level had less thugs thanks to the city's militia and guard cooperation. Perhaps the tiefling could look around for an inn where they could stay at later, while Dyon eats, and didn't Belial want to eat too? Maybe he could go buy himself some food.

The third level of the city hung around 90 feet above them, from where they were they could see some of the best buildings of the city that were up in the third level, mainly nobles and rich merchant manors, one of the three cathedrals of the city, and even the bank's official building.

\---

Belial did not feel sure about leaving Dyon alone, but it was best they had their privacy. He was hungry too after the long journey, so it was no wonder that they had to eat now. After a lengthy pause, the man came to his decision.  
"I'll be at the closest tavern, towards the west." He said, already moving to begin clamoring down the ladder. 

On the cobblestone street below, Belial was able to marvel at the niceties of a well taken care of city. It had been years since he had ventured into one, yet never one of Praescamaria’s vastness. He could have easily gotten lost in the grandness, if he allowed himself to. But, he had a mission: a mission to eat. As he had spotted the telltale sign of a tavern from the rooftops, he headed in the western direction, losing himself in a small crowd of people.

Belial hated crowds - they made his head spin, made his intrusive thoughts rise in tenacity. Just as they did now, as the tiefling looked for a way out - which he found rather quickly. Departing from the crowd, he found himself on the doorsteps of the tavern he sought: The Gifted Plate. As he opened the door and let himself in, he was greeted by the bartender and waitress.   
“Welcome to The Gifted Plate! How may we serve you today?”  
Belial was still shaken from the encounter, only giving them a “hmm,” in response as he found himself a seat at the bar.

Approached by the waitress, he said, “some curry, please. Extra spicy, preferably.”  
The waitress looked mildly appalled, but took his order in exchange for coins anyways.Looking around, Belial noticed that the tavern was surprisingly empty. Was the food bad, or was this some sort of front for something different?  
He didn’t know, and honestly didn’t care. As long as they gave him his food, he would deal with it. Now, if only Dyon would hurry up so he wouldn’t feel so alone.

\---

About five minutes after Belial left was when Dyon got up to sit in the middle of the building's rooftop, to be shielded enough from being seen from down or other buildings that weren't as tall, but, still being cautious they only raised their mask up a bit, enough to be able to eat and drink.

It didn't take them that long to eat, the trickiest part was drinking water, but they had mastered the art of eating normal food while being a creature that could be mistaken for an aberration that eats less normal food.

The masked one had adjusted their mask on correctly so it covered all their face again as soon as they were done eating, then looked over from the rooftop to the west, spotting the tavern that Belial mentioned. And, for a moment, they debated if they should use the ladder of do a cool jump, but as they were alone they settled on using the ladder, there was no point in being awesome if no one was there to see, just like talking out loud, there was no point in doing so if no one listened.

Dyon couldn't stop themselves from remembering how being alone for the first years they had been awake again had felt, it was something they didn't enjoy. But due to how dangerous it would be acting like themselves and just showing their true self they had to continue being alone once at Veritas. They were glad that the first people they met once awake had been two elven ladies, from which one was old enough to tell the difference between Illithid and Thoc'Rah, and they were glad that the two had helped them catch up some with what went on in the planet, mostly topsiders events, as none of the ladies knew much of the Underdark, just that the Illithid had supposedly pushed Thoc'Rah into extinction at the Great Divide. Guess Dyon was the proof that that was not completely true.

Their train of thoughts stopped when they were in front of the door to the tavern, they stayed outside and to the side for a moment before stepping in.

\---

By the time Dyon had arrived at the establishment, Belial had just received his meal. For a tiefling, eating was a much different process. With no tentacles to hinder eating the usual food, there wasn't anything stopping Belial from eating in public. 

Hearing the door open, Belial glanced to it, only to turn his head towards it once he recognized the shape. He waved them over to the seat beside him, of which was empty like most of the tavern. It seemed it was too early for their usual rush hour, a simple explanation for the lack of patrons. Yet, that did not stop the tiefling from worrying just a tad.

"I hope you had a decent meal," he spoke once they had joined him. The food in front of Belial had an intense spicy scent to it, enough to make one's eyes water.   
Did he really plan on eating this without something like milk?   
Or at all?  
It was hard to imagine someone his age readily enjoying something like that.

"There's an inn upladders," he informed them, taking a spoonful into his mouth afterwards. His reactionless face was even more perturbing. "Just a silver per night, plus it's close to our way down to the first level." Belial's attention turned back to the quest, as he continued to eat. If he hurried his meal, they could be on their way. But then, that would risk him becoming ill later on.

\---

The masked one ignored both, the waitress and bartender, directly going to sit at the empty seat near Belial, immediately resting a prosthetic hand on the table and beginning to tap it lightly.

"I feel full of energy and my psionics are alright again. Can't wait to beat up someone." Dyon said, not bothered by the spicy smell in the air at all, the mask didn't really let it pass through. "We could rent rooms here, I have no problem paying for two rooms. Plus we aren't that far away from Ratte's place, that's why I wanted to go up by the ladders we used specifically. We're at, like, ten minutes from the gnome's shop or so if we shortcut through the alleyways, and it isn't usual to find thugs or others around here. Those linger around the ladders mostly, in conclusion, there is no rush, let's take it calmly."

The masked one looked around, inspecting the tavern and everyone inside of it, then they took a kit of repair tools from one of their bags of holding, it had a screwdriver, small pincers and other similar tools. As they did so, they left the few pieces of prosthetics of their left arm on the table, and where it was equipped their psionics reached over to hold one of the tools up, while Dyon held one of the pieces in place.

Dyon's prosthetics were not flat, and each piece was actually two pieces in one, held together by small screws, and once the masked one opened up the piece they were working on it could be seen that the inside was carved with a circuitry pattern and in the middle of one of the sides was a small gem like stone that had a small crack on it. They took it out with the pincers, held it up, examined it over, and ultimately they threw it away.

"Broken" Muttered the masked one, then they took out a smaller bag from one of their bags of holdings, they opened it and took out a new gemstone that was identical to the other one except for the fact that this one wasn't cracked, and replaced it inside the open piece of prosthetic.

\---

In the end, It seemed that Belial's choice in inns had gone over quite well. A nice place, even when it was empty, and it was close to their main informant! It was perfect. The only thing that could make it better was good food - and Belial was finding his food to be quite good.

"Don't get too impatient," he teased, "I'm sure we'll have some combat soon." His voice was quiet, loud enough for only Dyon to hear. The tiefling was careful not to allow eavesdropping in their conversation, given the nature of it. Belial continued to eat as he watched them work, a curious gaze in his slit pupiled eyes. Even the workers of the establishment watched with curiosity, when they weren't handling chores in the kitchen area.

"So, where did you learn how to make this stuff?" Asked Belial, who had almost finished his meal save for a few bites. He was taking his time, of course. That twinkle of curiosity was still in his eyes as he looked at the masked one. "Your prosthetics look very complicated," he added, looking over the contents upon the table. "But I'm still fascinated. In fact, I might be more fascinated because I don't understand it."

\---

"With my people, when they still existed. These gems are resonance stones, they were used to infuse emotions on them through psionic methods, but I discovered that they could be used to channel psionics in an easier way through objects too. I was and am a bit of an inventor in my free time, as a hobby, and I like to create things, I find it as entertaining as beating a man to death with my prosthetics." They too kept a low time of voice, not wanting no one to eavesdrop in on their conversation.

As soon as Dyon was done replacing the stone they closed the piece of prosthetic, got the tools back into the kit and inside the bag of holding, then they equipped the prosthetic they had unequipped to repair. "The problem is that resonance stones break easily if the psion user channels too much energy at once through them."

The masked one leaned back on the chair, crossing their arms across their chest and turning their head to stare at the workers of the tavern and any other patrons of the place, after that they turned their head to stare back at Belial. "My prosthetics are indeed complicated, but they also are resistant, made of metals that cannot be found up here and by tools that Topsiders haven't invented a version of yet. My people, we... We were very advanced in technology and psionic sciences, but, the war took over, two factions formed and all our progress was destroyed, we regressed technology and culturally wise due to the war."

After explaining that they became quiet once again, silently waiting for Belial to finish so they could pay and rent rooms for when night arrived.

\---

Belial nodded along to Dyon's explanation, his tale of his people who were long since gone. It was a curious thing, to be looking upon someone whose ethnicity was a long forgotten thing, them being the last predecessor to a once great civilization.  
But, Belial was not privy to this information. The information he was privy to made him sound like a Drow, far too tall to be either a deep gnome or duergar. Even then, Belial had never met a drow as tall as Dyon was.

Could he have been from a sect of Drow, far removed from society as a whole? It would not have been the first time that Belial had encountered someone like that.

Soldiin, once his closest friend - now a relationship lost in the Underdark. Thinking of him, Belial's expression became downtrodden as he ate the last few bites of his meal. What had become of the man?  
Was he still alive?  
Was the hamlet of Phyxfein still even around? Surely it had been taken by the Illithids by now. It had been some fifteen years since he had left. Many things could have happened, but it was also a blink of an eye for people like the Drow.

And yet, it felt like forever for Belial. 

"I'd like to see your other inventions when we have the time," he finally said, after a long silence. His expression returned to normal as those thoughts were pushed to the side. "Maybe you could tell me more about your culture before we go to bed?"

By that, he meant the privacy of a closed room. Sure, they could have two different rooms - Belial did not want to disturb Dyon with his restlessness. But, it was a great place to talk. He called over the waitress, with the expectation that Dyon was going to pay the two silver for their rooms. "Ma'am, we'd like to book two rooms, if you'd please."


	11. XI

The tall, masked person seemed to ponder about it, resting their prosthetics hands on the table and tapping it lightly, seeming a bit nervous-- they probably felt like they were speaking too much.

"Maybe I could tell you more without putting myself or you in danger. I hope you understand that the reason why I don't trust no one to see my face or know much about me is because of how dangerous that information would be for both. It is better if my allies don't know, in case something goes wrong and the person who knows my identity gets captured by enemy forces, that way the enemies won't know who I truly am either, I cannot protect my allies all the time, I learnt that the hard way, therefore the information I share is limited."

The masked adventurer explained themselves, this was the first time they really explained their motives for being so secretive about their identity, it sounded pretty logical. "But I may be able to show you a few of my inventions." Dyon added, before turning to look at the approaching waitress and doing as Belial expected, which was paying for the two rooms, instead of two silvers, Dyon gave her three, an extra one for any possible future trouble or maybe they were just generous.

The masked adventurer then glanced at Belial and got up from the chair they had sat at. "So, ready to go meet Ratte? She, unlike you, knows my identity. But she promised to not share that information, and I believe in her word, she's a woman of honour and will not tell you anything about me. Sadly she gets into shady stuff due to her way too curious nature, but I can assure you that she's good. I can also tell you that I wasn't that happy with having to visit her because she likes to question me too much, you might have to wait outside if she does that, because she likes to question me while I have my mask off."

After a pause Dyon continued. "Both times I had to negotiate with her she only offered the information I needed if I let her take notes about me, somehow, she already knew some about me before I visited her. I believe she has clairvoyance abilities or something like that, as she was very excited to meet me the first time and already knew I was looking for her the second time I needed help, she even sent her goons to escort me to her place."

\---

The waitress took the silver pieces and put them in the register. In exchange, she gave them each a key for rooms two and four. There were six rooms upstairs in decent condition, indicating that they would have rooms in front of each other. With their keys delivered, the woman went back to work. Belial pocketed his key in the satchel, before turning his attention back to Dyon.

“Whatever you decide to open up about, I’ll be there.” Said the infernal man with a warm smile. He didn’t want to pry, per se, but Dyon seemed both willing and unwilling to share things about themself. It made Belial curious, it made others curious - that was why he of all people was on this mission, after all. It felt great to have a reason as to why they acted this way, but it also wasn’t the answer to Belial’s secret quest. “Anyways, you were saying…”

“Ratte? Now?”  
With the sun beginning to set, Belial was surprised that they wanted to see the gnome woman now rather than the next morning. Perhaps they still thought of the group of younglings, wanting revenge for having their family jailed. He admired their determination, a determination that he shared. He rose from his own chair, following their lead. It was curious still, to hear that this stranger of all people knew who - or rather, what - Dyon was.  
“Whatever makes you feel comfortable,” he said as he began to head out the door, regarding staying outside while they were being questioned without the mask.

“Clairvoyant?” Belial echoed, a look of wonder similar to that involving their inventions upon his face. “Then she should know we’re coming already. Let’s hurry before things get too late.”  
And with that, the man was already out the door. Of course, he stopped to wait on them - after all, they were the only one who knew where to go.

\---

"She sure knows and has probably made tea for when we arrive." Dyon jokes, following Belial outside but making a pause to pocket their own room key. They went out of the tavern, passing by the tiefling's side and walking down the street at a swift pace, not bothering to check if the other followed, they trusted that he would follow. "It's down this street, then we shortcut through the alleyway at our right, then we take a left and end up in another street where we have to walk past two houses then we'll reach Ratte's house, it's the only house that has a shop in that street, it's easy to spot."

The masked adventurer's is easy to spot in the daylight, but now that it was starting to get dark one could notice that the dull and dark colours of their figure would probably be very good for camouflage, even the purple/pink-ish hue that the physical manifestation of their psionics produced seemed to turn darker as the daylight went away, when nighttime comes the change will be a lot more noticeable for those that see colour.

Dyon slowed down enough to walk beside Belial, they seem to want to talk and it isn't easy to do so being three or four steps away from him. "Belial, what do you know about illithids? I want to see what you remember of that badly written book and what true knowledge you may have, so I can correct it by making use of my own limited, but far less wrong, knowledge."

The masked one had to remind themselves of not saying anything like 'vast knowledge' or 'right knowledge', which they possessed and were aware of how important it was, but it could have blown their cover. Therefore they will try to act less savvy about Illithids and imply that they don't know that much, just enough, for now. At least until Dyon finds a way to explain who and what they are without getting a very bad response from Belial and without it being dangerous. There's also the book, oh that book, Dyon is going to burn it down and all copies they find right after they are done writing a corrected version.

\---

Tea certainly sounded good at the moment, though Belial couldn’t shake the creepy feeling that she knew they were coming. It was something he would have to get used to, he supposed. Regardless of how he felt about the current situation, there was no choice but to follow Dyon down the street. As the light dimmed and the vision of the tiefling faded to muted colors, finding them in a crowd would have been much harder due to their coloration. Belial would have to rely on the fact that they were much taller than most to find them, had they gotten apart or found themselves in some kind of crowd.

Oh, how Belial did not want to get lost in another crowd. His heartbeat quickened with anxiety at the mere thought.

“What do I know about them?” Another echo, this time including a worried look. Had Dyon believed he accepted the knowledge of the book as truth? “I know that they eat brains.” He finally said, including a nervous chuckle. “I know that their faces are supposed to look like octopi, and that they’re resistant to magic.” After all, Belial’s knowledge of the species was, in fact, limited. To recall information as they walked together was a difficult task. He turned down the first alley, the light around them darkened considerably, adding many a shadow to the atmosphere.  
“And I know that the Nourishers were the creed that had formed itself near Phyxfein, the hamlet I used to live in. I believe they made… slaves, of some sort.”

The exact word evaded him, but he knew these slaves were different from any other. Mind controlled slaves, with no willpower left in them. They would be slaves until their dying day, and they could never fight back. It was a horrible thought, a horrible ending. Belial wondered how many of his former neighbors may have become slaves to the Nourishers.  
But that was neither here nor there. They deserved what they got.

\---

"They eat brains because of both, their incapacity to maintain their psionics without eating someone else's mental essence once a month and because brains have all the nutrients they need, those nutrients can be found on seafood too, but not the mental energy, nor memories and knowledge they can absorb by that eating method. And yes, their faces do look like octopus or squid ones, but they do not have beaks usually. They have lamprey-like mouths, rows of sharp teeth. They don't crack skulls open, instead they use an acid that they can secrete through their face tentacles, that's why it's important to keep away from the reach of those, the acid can burn through metal."

Dyon corroborated and added to the info that Belial knows, walking beside the tiefling, making sure to guide the way while they walked and talked. After a small pause they continued explaining.

"Their resistance to magic is thanks to a mucosa that covers their skin, it keeps them moist in dry ambients and acts as a magic resistance enhancer, but, intense heat can evaporate that secretion and make them vulnerable for about twelve hours against many magic attacks, mostly vulnerable towards electric based spells and other fire spells. They burn easily if their mucosa is damaged."

At the mention of thralls and nourishers the taller one slowed down a bit, seemingly deep in thought, then they quickly caught up to Belial, speaking up.

"They call their slaves thralls, and actually, those slaves can be saved, if the illithid controlling them is killed the mind control gets broken, the person turned thrall will have severe trauma and probably various mental illnesses from the illithid mind control and conditioning. It can be healed through the use of mental repairing or mental healing psionics, my people knew of that more than I do, of the arts of healing a damaged mind." The tall adventurer stopped walking, they were already in the street where Ratte's house was located, but they don't seem to want to go in there just yet.

Dyon turned to look at Belial through the mask. "Nourishers are those who are in charge of getting new thralls, of breaking them down and keeping enough of those that their hive or colony won't starve. Thralls can become food at any moment. I hate every single thing about illithids, but what I hate the most is their lack of empathy towards other species just because they deem them inferior, the fact that they began to use thralls was, was what made them win the war .... Anyway, we should go into Ratte's house already, our talk about how shitty Illithids are and how to fight them properly can wait."

They walked up to the house that is also a shop, the place has a sign made of bronze hanging outside a window that says 'Ratte's secrets and rattling apparels', the name of the shop seems to be a pun.

\---

The information being given to the tiefling was of the quality that he wished he could write down. However, he needn’t worry long, as he had an inkling all this information would wind up in Dyon’s constructive edit of the book they so loathed.   
Belial shivered at the idea of lamprey mouths. Such a thing added to the brain eating imagery, as did the mentioning of acid. Belial’s eyes lit up at the mention of them being weak towards thunder damage once their protective mucosa was incinerated.

Well, that was just perfect, wasn’t it?

“A thrall,” repeated Belial as he nodded along, something he seemed to do a lot when in deep conversation. He peered down the alley as they exited, as if expecting someone to be there. When there wasn’t, he continued on. It was a completely new word to him, one he was sure to remember. “I feel bad for their thralls… Though, that’s just normal, is it not? To pity the suffering.” He said, stopping himself from referring to it as “human nature.” Such a thing was far too complicated for him to refer to it as such.

All talk of Illithdry sizzled out as they arrived at the shop: Ratte’s Secrets and Rattling Apparels. All thoughts of puns were lost on the tiefling, as he simply took the name as it was. He opened the wooden door, upon seeing that the business was still open.  
But, he paused and looked back to Dyon. “How about you go first?”

Admittedly, Belial was nervous to meet this Ratte, knowing that they may have been clairvoyant. It made him feel as if he was being watched, a feeling he couldn’t shake off so easily. What was she like? Surely she was shorter than the both of them, given her gnomish blood. But what was it that made her extraordinary? Was it a bloodline, a gift from birth? Wizardry or sorcery?  
He could only find out by seeing the woman himself.

\---

"Empathy and sympathy. They are concepts that can be different or have varied meaning for each existing sentient species. But what makes us all similar, as all species have some of those abstract concepts, that's why peace can be achieved sometimes, that's why sometimes at wars there has been cases in which an orc doesn't kill an elf child or an elf doesn't kill an orc child, and may instead leave alive, save or adopt them. If it weren't because of the ability to understand others' feelings and the ability to feel sorrow for others' misfortunes then existence would have destroyed itself a long time ago."

The masked one seems to think for a moment before adding. "Illithids forgot how those work, because a long time ago they forbid themselves from trying to understand them. Killing one of them does not only free the world from evilness, but it also sets them free from the lies they themselves made long ago and believe firmly on."

Once they both stood at the door the masked one got quiet and waited for Belial to go in first, but as they saw the other not go in they waited for the tiefling to speak up again, head tilted in a questioning way. When asked to go in first they nodded, stepping in while holding the door wide open, as they did so a small bell that was above the door rang, making a few ting noises.

Inside, the place looked homey and nice, there was a counter in the left area with objects and apparels that were for sale, but except for that, the rest of the room was a living room like place, there were a few sofas in there and chairs too. An old gnome lady was sitting in a comically bigger than her rocking chair near the fireplace. Incredibly, the fireplace did not emit warmness but just a dim light, as if the fire there weren't real.

The rocking chair and sofas were all positioned around a coffee table that was not very big in height, and there were indeed three cups of steaming tea on the table, even some pastries.

"Oh? Dyon! And that must be the one who you're forced to work with." She said, smiling warmly, looking at both of them, then she directed her next words to Belial. "Ah, I'm sorry, child, but your name evades me. Come on in! Let me see you better, don't just stand back there. You both can take a seat, have some tea and cookies. It's nice to meet you, my name is Ratte, even if you already know it." She seemed to give off a calming aura, maybe it was just the grandma vibes that the old gnome lady and the house gave off.


	12. XII

Philosophical conversation was something the tiefling was ill adjusted to, but he couldn’t help but find Dyon’s words poignant. Without empathy, without sympathy, the world would have been a sick, sick place - if it existed at all. Society could not hold itself together without the intrinsic need to understand one another.   
“Forbid themselves from empathy? That is a.. Strange concept, for me. Usually, it’s the lack of those emotions altogether.. But I also suppose illithids aren’t as human as you or me. Plus, you are the one who knows more about them than I do. So, I trust your opinion.”

Now inside of the building, following Dyon and the faint jingle of the bell tied to the door, Belial was able to marvel at the interior. It was a shop, that he could tell, but also a living space well lived in. It was cozy, warm, relaxing; he could almost forget his fears here. Then, there was the gnomish woman - Ratte - sitting in her comically oversized chair. Of course, judging by the tea and pastries, she had in fact been expecting their arrival.

“My name is Belial,” he told her as he took one of the seats around the comically small coffee table. Belial had to admit, he both loved and hated the size of gnomish and halfling furniture. It was both cute, and hard to reach down to. “I must say, I’ve been curious about you, Miss Ratte.” He continued, taking a cup of tea from the table. It smelled delightful, as did the various pastries. “How did you know we were coming?”

He thought he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from herself. Clairvoyance, the magic of divination, seeing the future - all were new to the older man. He had heard about it, read about it, but that was different from seeing it in action. Different from seeing a clairvoyant themselves.

\---

The taller masked one didn't answer to Belial's words, instead they took a seat from across the gnome lady and away from the tiefling, once seated they stayed eerily still, which they usually never do, this time they are. It seems like the talk they have has affected Dyon more than other previous talks they have had.

While the masked one was deep in thought Ratte did the talking, answering to Belial's question as best as she could. "Well, I have an approximate knowledge of events and people, sometimes this knowledge is from the past, other times from the future, if I concentrate I can see immediate present events related to myself, but I don't need to do that anymore, back when I was an adventurer it was very handy, but now, I prefer to just let the knowledge of past and future come to me whenever it feels like. I also enjoy eavesdropping sometimes if I know that important people are going to meet at public places, and considering my height it's very easy to do so." She laughed sweetly when she mentioned her own height.

"Well, children, I think we should start talking about business, I know you two need information, but I'm not sure about whom, I don't know how many people you have to investigate, why don't you show me the lists with the names of your targets." She knew about the lists, but not about how many people were written in those. "I may be able to tell you about some of them, but, it won't be free, for each person I can tell you about I will ask you for a payment."

\---

It was no wonder that, compared to the taller men, Ratte looked even smaller. It was an endearing trait, Belial had to admit. It made his mild fear fade the rest of the way, along with her explanation of her powers. While he wanted to ask more, he knew they had more important business to attempt to.

From the pockets hidden in his cloak, the tiefling produced two envelopes, the seals since broken. He gently handed them to Ratte with his free hand, the other holding a cup of tea. “We are, of course, ready to pay whatever you want.” He said, before adding, “even more so for extra information regarding Sprague Kurnaz. You see, we have some extra work involving that man, though it’s more personal.”

Belial thought again of the young people from the staircase, how Sprague’s lack of empathy had harmed them. They may have taken up a life of troublemaking, but it wasn’t their fault - it was the world they lived in, giving them no choice but to fit in to save their own skins. He wanted to help them, to think that their help may have allowed them the point to escape their lives of crime. Surely they wanted nothing more than that?  
Well, he couldn’t be exactly sure. Maybe he was only putting words in their mouths.

Wanting to relax from these dark, somewhat poignant thoughts, Belial took a pastry and began to eat yet again. He was a clean eater, a silent one. A blessing for many, to avoid being disgusting. One he swallowed the first bite, he spoke once more. “What do you have in mind for payment this time, Miss Ratte?”

\---

"Ah, yes, Kurnaz. He's a mean one, sent his goons after me once, but, luckily they are no match for my pet. I will tell you about him for free, if you let me know in a future that what Dyon wants to do to him has been done, I might not be able to see it, my gift is limited." The small and old gnome lady took both envelopes, opening them and reading both lists, the papers of those lists looked bigger on her little hands.

After reading all the names she frowned and left both papers on the coffee table, then she took her own cup of tea and drank from it, the tea was sweet, tasting like honeyed rooibos tea. Rate began to speak again after setting her cup down. "Dyon." She said, making the tallest of them snap out of their thoughts and look at her with full attention, then she continued. "The payment is usual. For each person I give you information for I get to do one sketch of Dyon and ask a question about their people. I will do that after I speak about these people, as you, Belial, will have to wait outside."

"Seems fair." Dyon added as soon as she stopped talking. "Who will we be told about first?"

"Well, why don't we start with Kurnaz? As he is the 'for free' one." Ratte answered, smiling at both, then she took a pastry and ate a small bit of it quietly. "First of all, what do you two know about Sprague Kurnaz?"

\---

“Alright, so a few glamor sketches of our handsome young Dyon. Seems like a good price to me.” Belial’s tone was a joking one, wanting to prod at the masked one who had been silent insofar. “And we will certainly come back once the deed is done. Assuming we do get it done.” It was hard to say if they could actually kill Sprague, or at the very least maim him. Given his presumed status, he most likely had bodyguards of some sort - or, at Ratte said, goons.

“What we know about him is rather simple,” continued Belial after taking a sip of tea. It was a simple pleasure, tea and pastries. Perhaps he should ask to take a pastry along with him. His eyes trailed from Ratte to Dyon, then back to Ratte again as he spoke. “We know he is business partners with someone named Paris, and that Sprague is the reason a few people have been jailed. Maybe he is also a lawmaster of some kind? Or maybe it’s his influence that put these people in prison.”

Belial was wholly unfamiliar with the political landscape of Praescamaria. A thing he assumed Ratte knew far more about, for one reason or another. He hoped she would be able to provide the information they wanted, and he didn’t doubt that she could. After all, she possessed a gift that they did not. She was amazing, was she not?  
Ah, it was best not to praise her so readily. He took another sip of tea.

\---

"I'm older than you." The masked one commented in a deadpan way, staring at Belial. "Much older than you. But I must agree that I think that I'm handsome, but I doubt anyone else would think so if I were to take the mask off. Well, except for Ratte, but her opinion doesn't count, she's odd." They were talking in a joking tone of voice too.

Their words made the old gnome lady chuckle. "Ah well, what can I say? I think all living species that have the capacity to be benign are fascinating."

There was a pause as Belial spoke again, then Ratte began to add onto the information they knew. "Paris and Sprague are a dangerous duo. Paris is the ex captain of the country's militia, he left that work when it was found out that he pressured merchants for more money than what they really had to pay, after that Paris used his influence and contacts to get a business going with Sprague. Their business is very shady, I can't see what they do in the buildings they own, they protected those with magical sigils against clairvoyants, just as their own houses." She took a sip of her own tea, then moved onto talking about Sprague.

"Kurnaz inherited his father's merchant empire and his mother's nobility title, plus several buildings in the city whose ownership he has ended up sharing with Paris. Sprague has a good knowledge of laws, but he never finished his studies, instead he uses his influence and charisma to convince the local law authorities of jailing certain people. I'm pretty sure he will send someone after me again, sooner than what we think, but I will leave in two days, back to the town in the forest I was born at. Depending on how you two do I might have to leave for retirement or just vacations. A lot of trouble is coming this way, and you two will have to learn to trust in the other, or it might get worse."

The ambient had turned darker, the old gnome woman spoke in an ominous and prophetic way. Then she snapped the gloomy ambient away by smiling warmly and saying. "I have talked about Sprague and Paris, Paris was not for free, so one sketch and one question for now. Moving on, who else in the lists do you two want to know of urgently? I could recommend you with one of them you should speak with next."

\---

It shouldn't have been much of a surprise that Belial was actually the younger of the two. In a world of longevity, he was only old in the eyes of humanity. If he were an elf, Belial would not have even been an adult yet. He envied them, their long lived lives. What was it like, to live to be much older than fifty one? But that was besides the point.  
He was just glad Dyon was joking around now too. It made him feel more comfortable when they weren't silent.

"Oh, so we’re dealing with ex-military,” said Belial with a beleaguered sigh. Paris had to have known his way around a fight, giving him an advantage over them. While they were trained adventurers, he was military - a grade above. Dealing with the brawn of the operation would leave them suffering, had they not come up with a strategy.  
Then came the struggle of warded buildings. Had they been warded against all magic use, Belial would have been suffering. To rely on a crossbow and dagger would be even more difficult. Annoyed by the thought, Belial continued to eat his pastry. The warm, sweet goodness was enough to calm him.  
“We can deal with him. No problem,” he said to himself, mostly as reassurance.

Where Paris was the brawn, Sprague was the brain. A manipulative, intelligent man who held a considerable amount of political power. “Is there any way to contact you, once you leave?” Had things gone awry, he assumed Ratte would have liked to know if she could not view it through her own clairvoyant eyes. He also wanted to keep his options open, in case there were other allyships to be made. Such things were important, when it came to the kind of work they were doing.

“I want to know about this Malva woman,” said Belial in a sudden voice. Explaining himself, he continued to speak. “You see, I believe she has… connections to a cult that I am aware of. She might be harder to deal with than the others, I’m worried. However, I’m not so sure.” He only could guess at what this Malva woman was like. The only thing he could assume for sure was that she was going to be heavily scarred. Most members of Cult Kilt’tar were heavily scarred, either due to their own depravity or due to their chosen vessel, Soldiin.

He coughed, something of an awkward gesture. “Besides her, I think I can say for the both of us, that we want to know who to start off with first. And yes, I will leave for the sketches. It is getting quite late, after all..”

\---

"Hah, he's not the only one who's ex-military. I was part of a ten years war, think I mentioned it before. Still, I'm pretty untrained psionically due to not having used my abilities for a long while, which I will solve by training myself back to the peak I was at. But my point is that I remember my training, which includes military strategy. I believe I may be able to counter Paris if I don't have to face him directly alone." While Belial was worried about it, Dyon was confident in their knowledge.

Ratte smiled at them, in a slightly tired way. "To contact me in the future should be easy. I know Dyon has a telepathic enhancer device, unlike what you believe, it isn't broken, it only needs to be charged, a ray or two of pure magic directed to it should do the job." At her words the masked one went quiet again.

She continued on. "Malva is relatively new to the city, but I have heard that she knows about slave trades that are going on around these areas. I can't really see her with my gift, but I did see her in person once, she has equipped a chasm that negates my clairvoyance or any magical espionage on her, as far as I know, the chams also negates psionic mental assaults. I'm sure she used to be very pretty, sadly I could notice she has big scars, no idea of how many." Then Ratte made a pause to look at the lists again.

"Iankas should be next. He'll be easier to talk with than the others on the lists, he doesn't really have personal guards and he may speak for the right price or the right threatening words. By the way, Dyon, please, stop scaring teenagers." She gave the taller masked one a stern glare.

Dyon tensed up where they sat at, then shrunk down into their seat muttering an apology. "Sorry." They sounded embarrassed, their tone of voice was quieter than the one they usually use. "Socializing is hard." They added.

\---

It was a relief to know that Dyon, too, was ex-military. They weren't completely behind, or so he thought. Though, it also made Belial wonder what this ten years war was like. They had mentioned it before, but it was hard to recall at the current moment.  
"That's perfect, actually. You really are useful," he teased.

The mention of a telepathic device reminded Belial of the alarm that they had been unable to charge. He wanted to ask about it, shooting Dyon a quick glance, but held his tongue for the moment. They had much more important things on their hands at the moment.  
"We'll need to be careful around her, then." He noted in quiet tone. A charm to negate clairvoyance and psionics was a bit of trouble. But, if it came down to it, Belial could be the one to handle her.

"Those teenagers don't hold it against us, I think," spoke the tiefling, his expression reminiscent as he thought of them once more. "I believe we did more good than harm there. But, that's just an opinion. So, Iankas next? He's a sailor, so we should be able to find him at the docks."  
A yawn.  
"Tomorrow. It's getting late... Do we want to ask about any more, Dyon?"

\---

While Belial spoke up Dyon kept quiet, tapping the small coffee table with both hands. They were deep in thought even as Belial talked to them, their gaze was fixed on the two lists that once again rested on the table, where Ratte left them at, finally they moved a hand to take both papers up.

"What do you know about the mysterious name? The one that connects all of the others? The name of the one that no one has met." Dyon doesn't seem to want to pronounce it.

But it was not necessary, as the gnome lady frowned and set her cup of tea down. "I have not seen that one either, no one has, it is impossible to know who that is. But I can tell you that you should end them as soon as you meet them, if you do. Be careful, don't get killed."

The masked adventurer nodded, putting both lists inside their envelopes and handing them to Belial. "I will stay, you can go back to the inn, no need to wait for me, unless you think you could get lost." Dyon said the last words in a teasing tone of voice, trying to lighten the mood.

As they talked Ratte got up from her rocking chair to take the empty tea pot to the kitchen, which was through a door on the side, of the living room, when she came back she had a second different pot of tea that was steaming hot, the old gnome lady left it on the coffee table and went to take a sketchbook, a notebook, pen and ink.


	13. XIII

Of course they would have received no information on the mysterious Enkess. It was of no surprise to Belial, though such a thing did forebode poorly for them. As Ratte said, they would have to kill them, for the sake of those harmed by the organization.  
"I see. Thank you for the help, Miss Ratte."

Seeing that it was now time to go, Belial finished his rooibos tea. Setting down the cup, he took a final pastry for the road. "I'll see you in the morning, Dyon. Goodbye, Ratte." He smiled at the two, giving a little wave as he set out the door.   
And with that, Belial left. 

The walk back to the inn was peaceful, now that most of the people had disappeared into their homes for the night. It made travel back much easier, allowing Belial to dart between the alleyways with ease. He had memorized the way back to the inn when he and Dyon went through the first time, something he was sure to do. Within no time, Belial arrived back at the inn.

And within no time, Belial was upstairs and in his room. While it would no doubt be a while before he slept, at least he could now relax on the mildly comfortable bed. His bed at home was far more comfortable, but that was no issue. He would simply go about his night as usual, until his body finally allowed him to sleep.

\---

As soon as they bid Belial farewells and he had left, Ratte went to close the shop, all window blinds were pulled down and the main door locked, she also made sure that Belial truly left. When she was sure her precautions would be enough to help Dyon relax as they took their mask off she went to sit back at the rocking chair, with pen and sketchbook in hand. "Well, Dyon, shall we start with the sketches first? You know you can put your mask back on after I'm done sketching."

"Yes, and no, it's fine, I know no one else will see me, even if my instinct and logic are screaming at me right now." Said Dyon, taking the mask off carefully and setting it against the small coffee table. Their face's appendages wiggled slightly once those were set free, soon the four smaller ones curled upwards over themselves while their brow furrowed slightly in a expression that Ratte had seen before and could recognise as the Qual'Ath expression for 'I am distressed, anxious or overly worried, maybe the three things.'

She frowned slightly while looking at them. "What is the problem? I know what that face means." As she said that she began to quickly sketch them.

"There is no problem." Dyon immediately relaxed their expression to a more neutral one, gaining a disapproval look from Ratte.

"You know as well as I do that that isn't true, so you better start talking about it." She said in a gentler tone of voice, smiling warmly, like a grandma would do when trying to make her upset grandchild talk about their feelings.

Dyon moved to sit up better, tentacles wiggling in nervousness, now closer to the coffee table they reached for the cup that was left there for them, just holding it for now. "Well, I, well, ah, this is difficult ... I'm afraid, really afraid. I don't want to endanger anyone furthermore, and in this situation, I keep thinking that they could have sent someone else. I am not good enough for this task, a lot of people could be in danger, good people and people who could still get a chance for redemption. But, I am not even able to protect myself properly, how am I going to protect anyone else? Last time .... Last time I tried to protect someone it ended with them all dead, I couldn't keep a single one of them alive."

Ratte listened, keeping an understanding and gentle expression as she also finished sketching some of expressions the thoc'rah made. "Dyon, you know I can see glimpses of the future, and as far as I know, you will do great. There will be hardships, of course, and not everyone can be saved, but, if you and Belial weren't here, I am positive it would be a worse future."

Dyon carefully drank their tea, having to tilt their head back all the way to do so without spilling it, then they set the empty cup on the table. "Thank you, your words kinda help. But, that's not all. I'm not only afraid I also have this turmoil inside, of emotions, I don't know how to act well enough, I can't manage my emotions and feelings in the same way you, humans, elves and others do. I'm, I'm very different that way and I am scared of showing too much emotion or too little, and, when should I act more calm? When should I lose my cool? How do I even know to recognise that? I can't recognise facial expressions that well, if it were with my people it would be so much easier, even with Illithid would be easy, at least back then, in the war, I knew when they were terrified of me and my brother. But now, now I struggle to comprehend certain situations."

"I think you have been doing pretty good, sweetie." The gnome lady had finished sketching, she closed the sketchbook and took the notebook up instead, writing down notes about the differences between a thoc'rah like Dyon and an illithid. "You just need to do what feels right, so far, for what I know and have seen, you have been doing good."

The tall humanoid took a pasty and ate it, nodding at her words, then both changed the conversation to a more lighthearted one, they spoke about Qual'Ath culture before the Great Divide happened, Dyon could not shut up about psionic enginery, how cool spelljammer ships looked and how much they had wanted to be in one but never got the chance to.

Finally Ratte was the one to end the conversation and urge Dyon to leave. "You need to rest." She had said.

"What? No! Absolutely not, I slept seven hours yesterday, I don't need to sleep for at least two more days if I don't exhaust myself. Can we keep talking? I don't have the chance to talk freely regularly." They had frowned slightly at her words.

"Well, then, you should have come visit me more times in the past, and not only these two times." She reprimanded jokingly.

"... I was still salty with you, the first time you made me take my mask off was less pleasant." Dyon shrugged.

"It was less pleasant because you kept pacing around my living room like a frenzied little paranoid. You expected me to attack you that first time, even after I promised that it was fine. Now, go to sleep, you will need to be a lot more rested than what you are." She said in a firmer tone of voice.

Eventually Dyon put their mask on and agreed to leave, at around 3 in the morning. Reaching the inn soon after and going to their room right away, closing the door behind themselves, planning on working on the book rewrite.

\---

The morning came in the form of the first light of the day peering down through the window as Belial as he slept. He slowly began to stir, rising from his fitful slumber. If there was anything that the tiefling had learned, it was that he would never have a fully peaceful sleep. He would be haunted, vexed by many a thought throughout the night, feeling the need to act upon compulsion after compulsion. Even then, Belial had become accustomed to it. It was simply part of his daily routine, something unchangeable as the sun rising and the moon setting.

Nevertheless, when Belial got out of bed, he was slow to prepare for the day. A quick washing off, a change into fresh clothing he had packed. If there was anything he hated, it was to wear clothes that needed a good cleaning.  
Though, was there a person out there that did like such a thing?  
Debatable.  
One the task was completed, the tiefling set out the door of his inn room. 

His task was to wait in the tavern below for his partner, Dyon. He had not heard them return until late in the night, creeping into the early morning hours. He wanted to let them rest, yet he also wanted to do something while he waited. Thus, the reason he sat at the bar of the tavern. It was much more lively than it had been the past day. Belial’s assumption was because it was breakfast time, or holdovers from a night of drinking before. An example of this would have been the man sitting to Belial’s left, at the edge of the bar, their head buried in the table. They mumbled drunkenly, as the bartender gave them a pitiful look.

“Mr. Delinoe, you need to get up. It’s almost time for your job,” she spoke, coming over to stir the man. He rose slowly, thanked her, and stumbled out the door as fast as he could. There were only so many places those wobbly places could take the man, Belial thought, and the ground would eventually be one of them.  
Oh, how he wished he could watch them faceplant. Hopefully not in the workplace, but regardless, - would have been an amusing thing.

While the bartender returned to her work, Belial ordered a breakfast platter: scrambled eggs, hash browns, and a biscuit. It would have been a good way to start the day - given how good their food seemed to be. Belial was looking forward to it, though he doubted it would have been as good as the pastries that Miss Ratte had made the night before.  
While he waited on his food, Belial took the time to stealthily analyze those who sat in the tavern with him.

A small family, eating breakfast. Not suspicious at all, in fact Belial almost envied the idea of eating breakfast with the family once more.   
A group in the corner, playing cards amongst their group of three. It seemed the dragonborn of the three was winning, while the two humans looked miffed.  
Many lone people, all of which seemed to blur together. They all did their own thing, eating food, drinking ale, orange juice, or milk. They did not come off as suspicious either, Belial thought.

What caught the tiefling’s eye was not what lay in the tavern, but of whom had freshly entered. A tall, caramel skinned wood elf, in the garb of a sailor. His dark copper hair was tied back into a bun, out of his older looking face. The wood elf took up the seat by the tiefling, having stealthily caught the man glancing at him. He would not let them know he had seen, but found it worth engaging in conversation with them. 

“Aye, mornin’, sir.” He spoke, his voice heavily accented. He smiled at the waitress as she took his order: some pancakes and a glass of milk.  
“Hello,” said Belial now turning his attention to his freshly arrived food. It smelled delicious, and looked even moreso. The first bite concluded that Belial’s assumptions were true: that the meal was, of course, delicious.  
“Haven’t seen you around before. I’m Iankas, what’s yer name?”   
Belial perked up at the name, before speaking again. “I am Belial. Actually… Do you happen to be an Iankas Maissec?”

“Why yes, sir, I would. Why’s that?”  
“Well, you see.. We were going to look for you today.” Belial explained, taking breaks to eat his breakfast meal.   
“And why’s that?”  
“You have information we may be looking for, actually. I’m willing to pay, if you’ll talk.”  
The wood elf chuckled, a strong smile upon his face. “You don’t have to pay me, as long as you keep talkin’ to me. So, what is it you wanted to know?”

\---

They had spent all night awake, at some point taking the chance to even leave their room once and go bathe at some public bathroom that had opened in the early morning. Dyon paid extra to be the only one in the bathroom and to be allowed to keep the key to lock from inside while they bathed, they had to check the room at least two times and cover the window until they finally deemed the place safe.

A bath of fresh cold water was obviously big nice for them and they didn't get time to bathe one last time at the sea before having to leave, so having the time to go bathe and having found a public bathroom was something they were glad for. After that they got dressed in a different change of clothes that looked similar to the ones they always wear, the difference was that those were of duller colours, looking older but clean. Finally they got their mask on and returned to the inn.

When more normal hours of the morning arrived and once they sensed enough people downstairs was when the masked adventurer got out of their room and descended the stairs quietly. They had already gathered their belongings and eaten a bit of the rations they owned again, not feeling the need to try different food, they could, but, it would be a waste of money, or at least that's how they thought. As soon Dyon was downstairs they looked around for Belial, spotting him talking with someone, a wood elf, they recognised the subspecies.

Quietly, Dyon approached, stopping to stand at the other side of Belial, keeping a bit of distance. "Good morning Belial, I see you're making friends." They commented in a light tone of voice, they seemed in a good mood, better than the past two days.

\---

The conversation took a pause as Dyon came down the stairs and spoke to Belial. He nodded once, before excusing himself from his and Iankas’s conversation for a moment.   
“This is Iankas, actually.” He told them, gesturing towards the wood elf who watched as he spoke to them. “Pretty interesting, right? This makes our job a lot easier.” Turning his attention back to Iankas, he began to speak to him again.

“We’re doing some work for the dock’s owners,” he informed Iankas, no hint of deception in his tone. It was a masterful work of a lie, as simple as it was - well enough that even Belial himself could have been convinced of its truth. “They want us to handle some common criminals doing business on their property. Have you seen anything suspicious?” Belial’s voice lowered in volume as he leaned close to Iankas, proposing his question in an equally quiet voice. 

Iankas had to blank for a moment to consider his options.  
They could tell him the truth and possibly receive pay, even when he requested not to receive anything. Or, they could keep silent. Obviously, he knew what the best choice was. “I have seen something, actually.” He spoke up, finally opening up now that there was a new member to their conversation. “I’ve seen… lots of things from my ship. So, you’re going to have to be more specific.”

\---

The tall adventurer leaned against the bar's counter, not really wanting to take a seat, they had too much energy on themselves to consider sitting a good option. "Oh, it's nice to meet you, Iankas, I am Dyon." They said when Belial introduced the wood elf to them, after that they kept quiet, listening to them talk, quite impressed by Belial's deception mastery, but that couldn't be noticed as they had their mask on, and even if they didn't it would be hard to tell.

Dyon walked around to stand at the other side of the wood elf now, then sat down there, to be close enough so they could be part of the conversation without having to raise their voice, quietly they spoke up. "Illegal contraband, suspicious transport of large groups of people, be it mercenaries, be it slaves, shady stuff like that, it wouldn't be good for any decent person that works at those docks to get involved with that kind of stuff, it could get many people in bad situations. We don't want that, that's why we have been sent."

They rolled with Belial's little lie, having had to take a moment to think their words thoroughly, managing to sound truthful, mostly because they really didn't want possible innocent or re  
deemable people to be in dangerous situations.

"Anything you can tell us will be helpful." These words were the most truthful ones. They waited for an answer from the wood elf patiently, not really looking at Iankas or Belial but remaining attentive to the conversation.


End file.
